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When UCLA publicly launched the Centennial Campaign for UCLA in May 2014, what we really kicked off was a renewed commitment to excelling in the interest of the greater good. More than a year later, we are humbled by the benevolence and vision of members of the Bruin family. Over the past 12 months, nearly 60,000 donors have given more than 70,000 gifts to UCLA. Some of those gifts have been small; others have been sizable. And many people have volunteered proudly to be ambassadors for the cause. Every single act of support is an affirmation of UCLA’s mission as a public university engaged in research, education, and service.
Supporting Health
Among those acts: Irma and Norman Switzer gave a transformative, unrestricted $50 million gift to David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA to provide support for physicians and scientists. Elsewhere in the health arena, New York Giants co-owner and Academy Award-winning film producer Steve Tisch donated $10 million to establish the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT program, the world’s most sophisticated research, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment program for concussions and brain injuries, with a particular emphasis on young athletes.
Inspiration and Innovation
With a gift of $10 million, social entrepreneur Jeff Skoll endowed and named the Skoll Center for Social Media Impact Entertainment in the School of Theater, Film and Television. Another visionary gift, $9 million from B. John Garrick, MS ’62, PhD ’68, launched the B. John Garrick Institute for the Risk Sciences in the Samueli School of Engineering. Both of these gifts stand to effect positive change in California and beyond.
Equipped for Excellence
Another magnanimous gift is music to our ears. Music industry executive Morris “Mo” Ostin donated $10 million to UCLA for a state-of-the-art campus music facility to be known as the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center. The new structure provides faculty and students access to the latest advances in music technology and research.
Education for Everyone
Alumnus and attorney Damien Marshall ’96 paid it forward with his first gift to UCLA, $100,000 to support the Academic Advancement Program (AAP), the nation’s largest university-based student diversity program, which promotes academic achievement. A partner in a New York–based law firm, Marshall credits a small scholarship he received from UCLA with making a big difference for him. “I owe everything to UCLA,” he says, “and I believe in public education.”
These and many more acts of generosity made the first public year of the Centennial Campaign for UCLA as inspirational as it was aspirational. And now — onward!
Published June 2015
