In 1987 then-President David Gardner founded the Humanities Initiative entirely funded by University resources; his goal was to enhance the role and effectiveness of the Humanities throughout the University of California. Over the past ten years the Initiative's support for collaborative and individual faculty research, graduate student fellowships, and intercampus cooperation has contributed substantially to a flourishing of the Humanities at UC. In its last report the National Research Council ranked 33 UC Humanities graduate degree programs among the nation's top 20 by discipline for quality of faculty; of these, 17 ranked in the top ten. With the drastic decline in Federal funding through the NEH, UC's internal support for the Humanities has become more critical than ever.

Four major components make up the Humanities Initiative: (1) the Humanities Research Institute, located on the Irvine campus; (2) the President's Research Fellowships in the Humanities for faculty; (3) graduate student fellowships awarded to every campus; (4) individual Centers for the Humanities, fostering research on every campus.

The Initiative's overall budget of ca. $2.5 million is allocated each year by the President's Advisory Committee on Research in the Humanities to the four segments. The Committee also advises the Office of the President on a wide range of policy questions and decisions affecting research in the Humanities within UC.