Media Contact: Dolores Davies, (858) 534-5994 or ddavies@ucsd.edu

UCSD DIVISION OF SOCIAL SCIENCES RECEIVES $ 530,000 GIFT FROM GARY JACOBS FOR GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS

The Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego has received a $530,000 gift from Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs to support fellowships for graduate students in the social sciences. The amount is the single largest gift UCSD has received so far in its current campaign to raise money for graduate student support.

"This is a tremendously significant lead gift for our fellowship drive," said Paul Drake, dean of UCSD's Division of Social Sciences. "In fact, it's the largest gift we've received so far. It not only supplies precious dollars in perpetuity for our graduate students, but also inspires other friends of the division to donate as well. We are very grateful to the Jacobs for their generosity."

Jacobs, who graduated from UCSD in 1979 with a B.A. degree in economics, is vice-chair of the Dean's Advisory Committee for the social sciences. Until recently he served as senior learning specialist at Qualcomm. He is now the manager of Jacobs Investment Co. He and his wife Jerri-Ann have shown a strong commitment to education in San Diego. Last year, they donated $3 million to establish California's first high-tech charter school. The innovative "High Tech High" is scheduled to open its doors in September in the Loma Portal area with 200 ninth and tenth graders.

Graduate fellowships, said Drake, are the division's highest fund-raising priority because adequate support for graduate students enables the university to compete successfully with other top research institutions for the best and the brightest students. Raising funds to support graduate students has become a top goal at UCSD, as the university has become more and more competitive academically with older, wealthier institutions that have greater financial resources.