UC Davis Sets New Mark in 1998-99 for Private Gifts

Individuals, corporations and private foundations contributed $63.7 million to the University of California, Davis, during fiscal year 1998-99, campus officials announced Friday. Gifts in 1999 increased by $11.6 million (22 percent) over contributions made to the campus during fiscal 1998, and the total establishes a new record for voluntary private support of the Davis campus. The fund-raising year included the largest single cash gift to the campus in its history, a $10.7 million commitment to the School of Veterinary Medicine. In 1999, UC Davis received 33,906 gifts and grants from nearly 26,000 private donors. Some 3200 corporations provided more than $25 million (about 40 percent) of the total, an increase in corporate support of 29 percent. More than 22,000 alumni and other individuals accounted for 18 percent of the dollar total, while contributions from foundations made up 11 percent of the total. Other nonprofit organizations and other sources provided the remaining private support. Larry Vanderhoef, UC Davis chancellor, attributed the increase in private support to a greater awareness among alumni and friends of its importance. "Our donors have a growing awareness of how effective focused support for public higher education can be, and their gifts have impact on every aspect of the UC Davis mission. The faculty, students and staff can be extremely grateful for the generosity of these donors and their investment in the future strength of this institution," Chancellor Vanderhoef said. The campus received a record $30 million for research support, which represents 47 percent of the year's gift total. The UC Davis Health System raised $9.97 million in research funding during the fiscal year, followed by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences with $7.98 million. Donors also added six permanent endowments for faculty chairs and professorships in engineering, agriculture, medicine and biological science during the year. These endowments included a $1 million gift from the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation in honor of Edward Teller, the prominent scientist who help found Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and the Department of Applied Science at UC Davis. Jerome Suran, a UC Davis professor emeritus, and his wife, Elsie, committed to an endowed chair in the Graduate School of Management, while Professor Emeritus Paul Stumpf and his wife, Ruth, added a professorship in the Division of Biological Sciences. Each couple is creating the first endowed chair or professorship in the respective programs. Ongoing capital campaigns for the campus benefited from the rise in private giving. On June 30, the Center for the Arts campaign, for instance, had achieved $9.2 million of its $30 million goal. The campus drive to fund an environmental research center at Lake Tahoe had amassed $5.6 million by the close of the fiscal year. The School of Veterinary Medicine, which is conducting a $50 million capital campaign as part of its 50-year anniversary celebration, enjoyed the greatest amount in private contributions of any UC Davis college or school: $19 million in 1998-99. The school's total includes $10.7 million from the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation. The gifts raised the school's campaign total to $40 million. A number of other colleges and schools also achieved significant increases in private support. The UC Davis Health Sciences division enjoyed a $3.3 million increase, receiving $13.9 million for the year, for example. Gifts of $604,567 to the UC Davis School of Law represent a 129 percent increase over the previous year's fund raising, and the Graduate School of Management raised its private support for the year by 144 percent to $813,890. General, unrestricted giving to the campus and its units was also up in 1998-99. The UC Davis Chancellor's Club, which recognizes donors of at least $1,000 a year in unrestricted support, provided $540,500 for the year and had 363 member contributors at year's end. The UC Davis Annual Fund raised $1,150,900 in gifts and pledges in fiscal 1999, an increase of 20 percent. Private gifts to UC Davis flow through the UC system Board of Regents and the UC Davis Foundation, a nonprofit, direct support organization. Over the past decade, the foundation has played an increasingly important role in generating private support for UC Davis. This year, approximately 51 percent of donors to the campus made their gifts through the foundation. UC Davis alumnus Norman Weil, a Bay Area businessman who currently chairs the foundation's board of trustees, said that he was proud of the commitment to the university that is reflected in these contributions. "The 1998-1999 year was one of great accomplishments and rewarding service for the UC Davis Foundation, as it received more than $9.7 million of the total given to the campus. All of us -- alumni, students, parents, faculty and trustees -- can promote academic quality and top research through our involvement in the campus and its future," Weil said.

Media Resources

Media contacts:
-- Virginia Kelsch, associate vice chancellor, University Relations (530) 752-2614, gkelsch@ucdavis.edu
-- Jerry Jahn, Office of Development, (530) 757-3377, jerjahn@ucdavis.edu