The Campaign for UCSD Achieves $900 Million Milestone
More than 90,000 alumni, parents and friends have invested in UCSD’s future
San Diego, CA, September 1, 2006-- The largest single show of private financial support for the University of California, San Diego in its latest fiscal year was the $24.5 million award last January from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to a project led by Calit2 director Larry Smarr. The grant is allowing Calit2 and the university to partner with the research institute of UCSD alumnus J. Craig Venter, ’72, Ph.D., ’75 – a visionary genomic scientist – to build the cyberinfrastructure required by efforts to map the genes of the tiniest marine creatures and the "metagenomics" of their ecosystems.
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The impact of gifts to UC San Diego is significant and far ranging. Thanks to the generosity of over 90,000 alumni, parents and friends, The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine What’s Next has to date raised nearly $915 million since the initiative was launched in July 2000. With a record $160.7 million in private support received during fiscal year 2005-06 alone – a nine percent increase over last year – UC San Diego is on track to achieve its $1 billion goal by the conclusion of the campaign in June 2007. UCSD’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and concludes on June 30.
“When a community rallies around its university, the impact is felt well beyond the campus borders,” said UCSD chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “I am focused on the months ahead – the last year of the campaign – because we have so many programs that still need private support. In particular, we still have critical funding needs for additional scholarships, fellowships and endowed faculty chairs so that we can continue to grow the stellar academic reputation of our campus.”
Private support directly improves the quality of the university’s academic and research programs, provides scholarships and fellowships that enable the best and brightest students to attend UCSD, enhances medical services and enriches the lives of the entire San Diegocommunity.
Major campaign milestones achieved by UCSD during the last fiscal year included:
Support for Students
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Allene Wong, ’71, is helping high achieving students from Hawaii, majoring in engineering or science, to offset non-resident fees through a $260,000 endowed scholarship.
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A $1 million gift from Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs, ’79, to support fellowships in the Division of Social Sciences was the largest single gift ever made to the Division by an alumnus.
Support of Innovation:
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The university’s innovative environment was a magnet for entrepreneur Jerry Swartz, inventor of the hand-held barcode laser scanner. The Swartz Foundation committed an additional $6 million, for a total of $12 million, to support the SwartzCenter for ComputationalNeuroscience at UCSD.
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The $24.5 million award from the Moore Foundation for Calit2's Community Cyberinfrastructure for Advanced Marine Microbial Ecology Research and Analysis (CAMERA) project. Directed by Calit2's Smarr, the project also involves the J. Craig Venter Institute, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and potentially other researchers on the UCSD campus.
Support for Research and Patient Services:
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With its three floors of clinical services and five-story research tower, the impact of the Rebecca and John MooresUCSD Cancer Center was reflected in the over $1 million that was raised at the Celebrity Chef’s Gala.
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Donors provided $9 million for a much-needed expansion of both patient and faculty areas at the ShileyEyeCenterand the Anne F. and Abraham Ratner Children’s EyeCenter.
Support for Faculty:
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Faculty at UCSD are supported through more than 115 endowed chairs – of which nearly 40 were established since The Campaign for UCSD began.
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UCSD “firsts” include the first $5 million endowed dean’s chair, The Stanley and Pauline Foster Endowed Chair at the Rady School of Management, funded by a generous donation from philanthropist Pauline Foster; the first endowed faculty chair in the Department of Anthropology, the Norma Kershaw Endowed Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands; and the first two of three chairs in Greek history – the Gerry and Jeannie Ranglas Chair in Ancient Greek History and the Alkiviadis Vassiliadis Chair in Byzantine Greek History.
Added donor Pauline Foster, “In our family, philanthropy means much more than writing a check – it’s also trying to make a difference with our gifts.”
The Campaign for UCSD reports that 50 percent of the donors to date are friends of the university, 28 percent are alumni and 15 percent are parents. Corporations, foundations and organizations represent the remaining seven percent of the donors. For more information giving to UCSD, please call 858-534-1610, email campaign@ucsd.edu or visit www.campaign.ucsd.edu.
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About The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine What’s Next
Since its founding just 45 years ago, the Universityof California, San Diegohas rapidly achieved status as one of the top institutions in the nation for higher education and research. To keep UCSD at the forefront of academic and research excellence, the university launched The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine What’s Next in July 2000. Donations to the comprehensive $1 billion fundraising campaign will help support students and faculty, expand academic programs, fund research endeavors and strengthen innovation funds to meet the highest priority needs. The Campaign for UCSDhas generated nearly $915 million to date, with $85 million to raise beforethe campaign concludes in June 2007. For more information, please visit www.campaign.ucsd.edu.
Related Links
CAMERA
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
J. Craig Venter Institute
Media Contacts
Media Contact: Judy Piercey, 858-534-6128, jpiercey@ucsd.edu