[2][3] In 1948 a University Education Commission had been started under S. Radhakrishnan with members that included Zakir Hussain and the American educationist J.J. Tigert, and Arthur Ernest Morgan.

They examined the Land-Grant colleges of the United States as a potential model for rural and agricultural education.

This was followed by a committee headed by Ralph W. Cummings of the Rockefeller Foundation, along with Ephraim Hixon of the USAID, L. Sahai (Animal Husbandry Commissioner) and K.C.

On 12 July 1969, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi inaugurated GKVK campus with its buildings designed by the architect Achyut Kanvinde who was influenced by Walter Gropius.

[2][3] The Ford Foundation made a grant of $331000 in 1966 to develop graduate research in entomology at the university.

[2][3] Later on the Marine Product Processing Training Centre (MPPTC) at Mangalore and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Hanumanamatti, Dharwad were also transferred to the university.

The University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore was entrusted territorial jurisdiction over 15 southern districts of Karnataka comprising nearly fifty percent of the total area of the state, while the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, was given jurisdiction over the remaining area in the northern districts of the state.