UC San Diego Becomes Region’s First University
to Top $1 Billion in a Fundraising Campaign
100,000 donors to The Campaign for UCSD help
achieve milestone that will ensure educational excellence,
and continue local, national and global impact of leading research university
June 8, 2007
By Laura Margoni
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From left to right: Arts and Humanities Dean Michael Bernstein, Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and philanthropist Conrad Prebys, whose $6 million gift will help make UC San Diego’s new, state-of-the-art Music Center one of the best small concert halls in the world and a community cultural resource. |
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) today announced that recent gifts to the campus have taken its fundraising total over the $1 billion campaign goal set in July 2000, nearly a month ahead of schedule. The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine What’s Next will conclude on June 30, 2007.
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UC San Diego’s fundraising initiative kicked off seven years ago with a $20 million gift from University of California Regent and campaign co-chair John Moores, with his wife Rebecca, to build the Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center. A $15 million gift from university supporters Jerome and Miriam Katzin jumpstarted construction, and established a new entity within the center—the Katzin Research Laboratories. Dedicated in 2005, the Moores Cancer Center has brought visibility and resources to the region as a recognized leader in the battle against cancer.
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Dedicated in 2005, The Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center has brought visibility and resources to the region as a recognized leader in the battle against cancer, thanks to a $20 million gift from University of California Regent John Moores and his wife Rebecca, and a $15 million gift from longtime university supporters Jerome and Miriam Katzin. |
The Campaign for UCSD launched with a gift for a cancer center, and concludes with a $34 million gift for cancer research—a bequest to the UCSD School of Medicine by physician George Ury. This is the largest bequest in the university’s history, and one that helped UCSD surpass its fundraising goal. Ury’s wish was to establish an endowed fund for cancer research.
“All of the donors to the campaign have contributed to increasing the academic excellence of UC San Diego and helped enhance our ability to educate exemplary students and attract renowned faculty who save lives through cancer-related research, clinical trials, prevention programs, community outreach and patient care,” observed UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “Dr. Ury’s gift to UCSD’s School of Medicine provides the perfect capstone to our campaign. Both the beginning and closing gifts are from individuals committed to helping us find cures for our most challenging diseases.”
To date, more than $1.01 billion in private support has been designated by UCSD donors to fund scholarships and fellowships; expand academic programs; fund groundbreaking research; support faculty, including recruitment and retention; enhance vital services, such as patient care; develop new buildings and renovate existing facilities; and provide a pool of flexible funds to enable UC San Diego to meet its highest priority needs.
Chancellor Fox expressed gratitude to the more than 100,000 individuals and organizations that made the history-making campaign an overwhelming success. “When we launched The Campaign for UCSD, even our fundraising consultants said that a $1 billion campaign might be too ambitious for a university not yet 50 years old,” noted Fox. “But with the support of generous alumni, parents, faculty and staff, students and friends, we achieved the extraordinary—and we will continue to deliver the local impact, national influence and global reach of the region’s leading research university.”
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Donors to the Campaign for UCSD funded a range of critical campus needs through current use gifts and endowments, including contributions for student scholarships and graduate fellowships. |
Added QUALCOMM Incorporated co-founder and campaign cabinet co-chair, Irwin Jacobs, “Today we celebrate the success of The Campaign for UCSD, which underscores the importance of this university to our community. Through their commitment to higher education, donors have ensured the future of San Diego and the region’s contributions to the nation, and the world.” During the campaign, longtime UCSD donors Irwin and Joan Jacobs contributed $110 million to the Jacobs School of Engineering and major funding for the Jacobs Scholars and Fellows program and the Center for Pacific Economies at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, among other gifts.
Donors to the Campaign for UCSD funded a range of critical campus needs through current use gifts and endowments, including contributions for student support. Sarahi Loya, a recipient of the Hispanic Scholarship Council Scholarship and an Amylin Scholar, expressed her gratitude to donors for making possible the level of education she has been afforded at UCSD. “Without their help, I could not have attended UCSD,” said Loya. “Due to financial difficulties, my parents were only able to attain a sixth grade education in Mexico. Yet now I am on my way to a dream my parents could never envision—I am applying to medical school.”
Following are highlights and fundraising firsts for The Campaign for UCSD
Fox concluded that UCSD has met important funding goals for research, academic programs and health sciences during the course of the campaign. She noted, however, that more remains to be done to support the university’s efforts to recruit and retain faculty and to finance undergraduate and graduate scholarships and student life initiatives. “But for now,” said Fox, “we have much to celebrate.”
For more information giving to UCSD, please call 858-534-1610, or visit www.campaign.ucsd.edu.
Media Contacts:
Laura Margoni, UCSD Development Communications, (858) 822-2485
Leslie Bruce, MJE Marketing, (619) 682-3841