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INNOVATIVE PROJECTS AT UCSD DRAW HIGH LEVELS OF PRIVATE SUPPORT; CAMPUS RAISES  $121 MILLION IN FISCAL YEAR 2000-01

The University of California, San Diego today announced that private support for fiscal year 2000-2001 amounted to $121 million, making it the third consecutive year that the campus exceeded $115 million in private gifts and grants.  This year’s total reflects gifts and pledges received between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001.

The past three years’ private support totals have resulted in a 60 percent increase over the prior three years (July 1998 - June 2001 compared to July 1995 - June 1998).  As a result of the recent fund-raising successes, the University has initiated many new academic and research programs that will positively impact the campus as well as the San Diego community. 

“UCSD has an ambitious vision for the upcoming decade as we approach our golden anniversary.  Private support is essential in order for UCSD to fully achieve this vision and our mission in education, research and community service,” said Robert C. Dynes, UCSD chancellor.  “Without private support, our new initiatives would never become a reality and many of our students and faculty would not have the opportunity to learn and work here.  We are very honored and grateful to have such a high level of support and involvement from the community.”

Among the private support received during 2000-2001 are gifts of one-million dollars or more for several major campus initiatives, including the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology [Cal-(IT)2], one of Governor Davis’s California Institutes for Science and Innovation; the School of Medicine’s fMRI center and the Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center; and unrestricted endowment funds that may be used at the Chancellor’s discretion for important campus projects.  Additional private support was designated for student fellowships and scholarships, as well as endowed chairs for faculty.

Selected in December as one of four Institutes based at University of California campuses, Cal-(IT)2 will be funded by a four-year, $100-million state allocation matched by more than $200 million expected from industry, federal, private, and university resources.  Cal-(IT)2, led by UCSD in partnership with UC Irvine, unites some 220 UCSD and UCI faculty with research professionals from more than 50 leading California telecommunications, computer, software, biomedical, and venture capital companies. In FY 2000-01, more than $24 million in private support was formally pledged to UCSD by several of these corporate partners, including Qualcomm, Conexant Systems, IBM, Ericsson Wireless Communications, Intersil, and SAIC.

UCSD received a $2 million grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation to help equip the new UCSD Center for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).  This regional, state-of-the-art facility will enable researchers to conduct sophisticated studies of both the structure and function of the brain. In recognition of the grant, the 6,500 square-foot facility, now under construction on the UCSD campus, will be named the W. M. Keck Building.

Distributions of $6.2 million from the Rik and Flo Henrikson Trust will provide for an endowment of unrestricted funds for the campus.  An additional $1.97 million was contributed to a deferred gift that will ultimately benefit the Henrikson Endowment upon maturity. Long-time supporters of UCSD, the Henrikson’s gift provides crucial discretionary dollars for the Chancellor to use in the areas of greatest need, providing UCSD flexibility to pursue important projects.