In an age of increasing globalization, UC Davis is sure to play an expanding role in international economics thanks to a recent $1 million gift.

That gift -- to endow the campus's first chair in economics, with a concentration in international economics -- will bolster UC Davis' already growing prominence in this area. And it comes at a time when Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef has called for an increased emphasis on international understanding among UC Davis' faculty, students and curriculum.

In fact, the campus's Department of Economics has focused on globalization for many years, led by several well-known senior faculty members whose research interests span international trade, international finance and macroeconomics, and development economics. It has become nationally and internationally known as a group that produces rigorous economic research, according to Kevin Hoover, department chair.

"International economics addresses the bedrock relationships among countries," Hoover said. "Economic relationships are often deeper and more fundamental than political relationships. In an important sense, international economics is what 'globalization' is really about."

Named the C. Bryan Cameron Distinguished Chair in International Economics, the new endowed chair will support a professor in the international economics group whose scholarship has national and international prominence.

"I am honored and blessed to be able to establish this chair," said the donor, Bryan Cameron. "UC Davis was an important part of my education, and I want to invest in institutions committed to excellence. It is my hope that this chair will help sustain that distinction in research and teaching in the Department of Economics."

Cameron, who received his bachelor's degree in economics at UC Davis and his M.B.A. at Stanford University, is the co-director of research for Dodge & Cox, Inc., a large investment management firm headquartered in San Francisco. Cameron says that his education has greatly helped him in his current work.

"Dodge & Cox manages over $160 billion in equities and fixed income, and $30 billion of that is overseas. My work has given me a greater sense of the global economy, but the underpinning educational foundation I received was important to my ability to succeed. Even today, the elements of economics are extremely useful in the analysis we do."

Cameron's interest in philanthropy is grounded in education, and he looks forward to meeting the individual who will be selected to fill the professorship that he endowed. He hopes that the endowment will help the chair holder continue to make important discoveries.

"I believe in contributing to those institutions that have made an impact in my life," Cameron said. "And I believe in the excellence in teaching and research in the UC system and in UC Davis. Through this endowed chair, I hope to sustain and increase that level of commitment."

Kevin Hoover says that Cameron's gift will help focus essential funds in the rapidly growing field sparked by increased globalization, and the campus is moving expeditiously to fill the chair. The new endowed chair is the first of many that the department hopes to establish in the coming years.

"We are very fortunate to have such a strong senior faculty to anchor international economics in the department," Hoover said. "They serve as mentors to an excellent group of junior faculty. And, under their leadership, international economics has become a recognized strength of the campus."

Steven Sheffrin, the dean of the Division of Social Sciences, echoed Hoover's sentiment and hopes the new endowed chair will make an impact for years to come.

"Not only will the endowed chair enable the holder to conduct important research, students at UC Davis will learn from one of the best in the world, creating future generations of economists and leaders," he said.