Volume 28 · Number 1 · Fall 2010
Giving: Recent Philanthropic Support for UC Davis
Philanthropic gifts help sustain and enhance the teaching, research and public service mission of UC Davis. During the 2009–10 fiscal year, UC Davis received
$112.3 million in private support, according to unaudited totals. This marks the fourth consecutive year that private support for UC Davis has surpassed $100 million. Some of the recent philanthropic contributions to UC Davis include:
Bill and Millie Stone (Karin Higgins/UC Davis)
Agilent Technologies Inc. recently contributed $1.4 million in equipment, supplies and funding to the School of Veterinary Medicine to support research in the rapid detection of food-borne pathogens such as salmonella. The research aims to reduce the time it takes to identify specific types of salmonella from a week to a few hours.
Agilent Technologies Foundation also awarded approximately $123,000 to the school to support research on DNA/RNA modification in bacteria to understand how it changes cellular behavior during growth. In addition, Agilent Technologies Inc. recently made in-kind gifts — including a mass spectrometer that can measure the elemental composition of molecules — valued at more than $400,000. The instrument, which had been on loan to UC Davis, has helped support the research of Carlito Lebrilla, chair of the chemistry department, and his work with the Foods for Health Institute, which investigates how the foods we eat affect our health.
J.W. “Bill” and Mildred “Millie” Stone recently made planned gifts of approximately $400,000 that will benefit the MIND Institute, stem cell research and asthma treatment at the UC Davis Health System. Their recent contributions, made through a charitable gift annuity and two charitable remainder trusts, will provide significant support for research and treatment initiatives that are important to the Stones, while initially providing income to designated family members. Dedicated UC Davis supporters, the Stones are longstanding members of the Health System’s Leadership Council. Bill serves on the advisory council for the Health System’s Mini Medical School, and Millie has served on the scholarship selection committee. In addition, through their philanthropy, the Stones have contributed to scholarships for students at the School of Medicine, and they have made generous contributions to advance cancer research.
UC Davis received a $200,000 grant from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to establish a development practice master’s degree program. The grant is part of the foundation’s efforts to provide interdisciplinary training for aspiring leaders in sustainable development around the world. UC Davis was one of 10 universities in eight countries to receive support from the foundation for this initiative this year. UC Davis’ program, which will be based in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, will offer field training in California’s Central Valley and in developing countries, and will serve as an agricultural hub for other universities launching these new graduate programs in sustainable development.
The Verizon Foundation has contributed grants totaling $95,000 to the School of Law for its Family Protection and Legal Assistance Clinic. Through the clinic, law school students, working under the supervision of licensed attorneys, represent low-income clients who otherwise could not afford an attorney to represent them on family law and domestic violence issues. This year, the clinic celebrated its 10th anniversary of representing families in need.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded the Agricultural Sustainability Institute a grant of more than $1.5 million to support the Inter-institutional Network for Food, Agriculture and Sustainability (INFAS). INFAS is a national network of scholars, representing 14 universities, committed to the development and support of food and agricultural systems that sustain the health of people, society, and the natural environment. The network’s goals include increasing access to healthy food for children across the country. The grant will establish an endowed fund to support the network’s work in perpetuity; that endowment will be managed by ASI on behalf of the network. In 2005, the foundation contributed a major gift to establish the W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems. Tom Tomich, the founding director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, is the inaugural chair holder.