Campuswide Impact
The impact of donors at UCLA reaches every corner of our campus. From new humanities scholarships to investments to help protect our environment to an archive preserving the legacy of an American trailblazer, the philanthropy of our supporters has created phenomenal momentum to carry us into The Centennial Campaign for UCLA. With extraordinary gratitude, we share with you a few of the myriad ways our students and faculty are empowered to change the world.
Justice Joan Dempsey Klein LL.B. '54 and Conrad Lee Klein
UCLA School of Law
Advocates of gender equality got an enormous boost from alumna Joan Dempsey Klein, presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three, in Los Angeles (and the first female presiding justice in the state of California) and her husband, Conrad Lee Klein. Their gift to create the Justice Joan Dempsey Klein Scholarships in Law will provide critical support to law students with financial need who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership qualities and a strong commitment to promoting the advancement of women in law and society.
David Geffen
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Imagine pursuing an advanced degree only to have your career choices restricted by the debt you know you will accrue by graduation. Now imagine that debt being lifted with a scholarship that covers 100 percent of your educational expenses, including tuition, room and board, and books and supplies. The transformative David Geffen Medical Scholarship Fund, conceived by David Geffen, the largest individual donor to any single UC campus, will cover the full cost of a four-year UCLA medical education for up to 33 medical students in each class and more than 300 students over the next decade. The gift will allow these future physicians and scientists — the university's very best—to pursue careers in clinical practice, teaching, research and public service without economic burden.
Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker
Targeting Three Societal Challenges
A $20 million gift from Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker's family foundation takes aim at three great challenges facing society today. A $15 million endowment to UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability will advance research on creating a more sustainable world by supporting faculty chairs, creating a center for urban sustainability and a prize to advance new sustainability technologies and initiatives. A $2 million gift to the Hammer Museum will expand vitally needed arts programs for children and families. And $3 million will address the unique challenges of UCLA students who have been or are currently in foster care, helping ensure their success. Together, these gifts demonstrate the Pritzkers' commitment to significantly enhance the university's goal of bettering our global society.
Professors Anne and Ronald Mellor
UCLA Departments of English and History
Recognizing the broad-ranging needs of the programs in which they teach, UCLA Humanities and Social Sciences professors created the Anne Mellor Endowed Graduate Student Fellowship in the English department and the Ronald Mellor Endowed Graduate Student Fellowship in the History department. Complementing these endowments to attract and retain the best in each discipline, the Ronald and Anne Mellor Endowed Educational Fund will support visiting lecturers, student summer travel awards and library resources—unlocking limitless potential among some of the world's top English and History scholars.
Stanley Lau '49
UCLA Asian American Studies Center
Bañuelos Family Trust
UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
A deeper understanding of our nation's multifaceted cultural heritage is essential to promoting civic engagement, and two of those important gifts this year support UCLA's leadership in this critical area of scholarship. The first, from UCLA alumnus Stanley Lau to create the Stanley Kwok Lau and Dora Wong Lau Endowment for Chinese American Studies, will invigorate student-based research into the history of Chinese Americans in the Los Angeles area. The second gift from the Bañuelos Family Trust will establish The Romana Acosta Bañuelos Collection, a permanent archive of the personal papers and oral history interviews of the 34th Treasurer of the United States and the first Latina to hold the position. The gift will also provide for the writing and publication of a biography of Bañuelos, a public exhibition celebrating her life and a graduate fellowship in her honor.