The University of California, Berkeley is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Founded in 1868 and named after Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley, it is the state's first land-grant university and the founding campus of the …The University of California, Berkeley is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Founded in 1868 and named after Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley, it is the state's first land-grant university and the founding campus of the University of California system. Berkeley is also a founding member of the Association of American Universities. It has been regarded as one of the top universities in the world.