Endowment gifts will sustain UCLA’s work well into the future. Alan Leve ’51 clearly understands that. He has given $5 million to name the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies and to establish several endowments within the center.
The Calling Continues
These endowments strengthen three legacies: UCLA College’s legacy of excellence in education; what Chancellor Gene Block calls “the legacy of the Jewish presence in academic, social, and cultural life at UCLA”; and Leve’s family’s legacy of giving, influenced by his late grandmother, Hinda Schonfeld.
She had no tangible assets of any value, but Schonfeld’s giving nature had a profound effect on her family and on the community. “People lined the streets of Boyle Heights in the rain as her funeral procession passed,” says Leve. “That made me realize that who you are is more important than what you have.”
Sharing Scholarship
The gift will benefit undergraduate and graduate students and faculty members. It also will establish a scholar-in-residence program to bring academics from around the world to UCLA to foster international collaborations. In addition, Leve’s gift will create the Hinda and Jacob Schonfeld Boyle Heights Collection, a collaboration with the UCLA Library that will include archival materials related to the history of Boyle Heights.
Published September 2015

The generous gift will help students engage in Jewish history and culture through the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies.

Leve’s gift also creates the Hinda and Jacob Schonfeld Boyle Heights Collection, a collaboration with the UCLA Library.

The Leve Center includes several endowments that will help UCLA expand the study of Jewish culture.