Cornerstone Campaign announced

November 8, 2004

UCSC launches $50 million Cornerstone Campaign

Building on its record fundraising success in 2003-04, UCSC has announced its first-ever campuswide fundraising initiative, the two-year, $50 million Cornerstone Campaign.

A $50 million campuswide fundraising campaign, the first effort of its kind in the history of UCSC, was announced at the second annual Scholarships Benefit Dinner, held at University Center on Saturday, November 6.

Fundraising is already well under way, with $45 million raised.

University Relations Vice Chancellor Ronald P. Suduiko and Foundation trustee and campaign chair Gordon Ringold made the announcement on November 6 before a crowd of more than 300 guests at the Scholarships Benefit Dinner. It is named the Cornerstone Campaign to suggest its role in building a solid base for ongoing fundraising success, they said.

“We set what seemed like an extremely ambitious goal when we commenced the silent phase of this campaign a little more than a year ago,” stated Ringold, a UC Santa Cruz alumnus and chairman and CEO of Surromed, a pharmaceutical and biomedical technology company. “We challenged ourselves with a goal of raising $50 million over a two-year period, and, thanks to several exceptional examples of philanthropy, I am delighted to announce that we have already received $45 million. This accomplishment is a wonderful tribute to the extraordinary achievements of UCSC’s faculty in teaching and research.”

The campaign is a joint endeavor led by the campus’s University Relations division in partnership with faculty, campus leaders, the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, and the UCSC Alumni Association. A special focus of the campaign is underscored by its theme, “Support students. Transform lives.”

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to succeed in the Cornerstone Campaign, with students as special beneficiaries of the effort,” noted Suduiko, who last year led the campus effort to raise a record-breaking $32.2 million, which is included in the campaign totals reached to date. Within the overall $50 million goal, the campaign is seeking to raise $5 million for student support, including scholarships, fellowships, and research grants. “We’re going to reach our goal – and power right past it,” Suduiko said.

A total of $2.4 million has already been raised toward that $5 million goal, including funds from the two successful Scholarships Benefit Dinners held in 2003 and 2004.

Among large gifts contributing to the total received to date is a $17.5 million award from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support researchers affiliated with UCO/Lick Observatory, who are developing what will be the world’s largest telescope. Other especially notable gifts include $6.5 million from Texas Instruments and $1 million to establish the Kumar Malavalli Endowed Chair in Storage Systems Research at UCSC's Baskin School of Engineering. The latter gift was announced at the dedication of the new engineering building on November 5.

Other gifts include $5.2 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for Ocean Sciences research, led by Professor Jonathan Zehr, and a $500,000 gift from Miller Outcalt to support the photography collection and special collections in the UCSC Library. Student support includes $200,000 from Professor Emerita Jean H. Langenheim for the Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Physical and Biological Sciences; an anonymous $200,000 to support graduate fellowships for the STEPS Institute; and $25,000 from Craig Schiffer for the History of Consciousness Fellowship Endowment.

This phase of the Cornerstone Campaign coincides with a year of celebration for the campus’s 40th anniversary, which is being marked from fall 2004 through fall 2005. More information about the campaign is posted on the UCSC web site, giveto.ucsc.edu/.

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