UC Santa Cruz raised nearly $22 million in private gifts and pledges during 2005-06, buoyed by crucial support for K-12 education initiatives, marine research, and expansion of McHenry Library. Alumni and parents played a key role, with nearly 2,000 contributing to the campus for the first time.
"Our donors' generosity fuels the innovation for which UC Santa Cruz is renowned, and I am deeply grateful for this support," said Acting Chancellor George Blumenthal. "This level of commitment underscores our campus's many productive partnerships and is a tribute to the achievements of our outstanding faculty, students, and staff."
The New Teacher Center, which collaborates with school districts in more than 30 states to improve retention and instruction for beginning teachers, drew considerable funding from foundations. Its largest-ever grant, $2.46 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, will make it possible to expand the center's work in the economically disadvantaged Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto. A $400,000 Joyce Foundation grant will focus on policy studies, and other New Teacher Center initiatives received support from the Wachovia Foundation, Goldman Sachs Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation, among others.
Funding for outstanding marine research remained substantial. A $2.18 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation established a microbial genomics laboratory that will support a collaborative environment for UC Santa Cruz scientists, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students as well as visiting scientists from around the world. Although relatively little is known about the ocean's microbial communities, researchers have found that they are enormously important to marine ecology, the availability and transformations of key nutrients, and even global climate.
The Moore Foundation also awarded nearly $634,000 for a marine research project focusing on 23 species of top predators in the North Pacific Ocean. In the Tagging Of Pacific Pelagics project, electronic sensors are attached to the animals so that data on their migrations and the environments in which they live can be transmitted to scientists. The foundation's generous support builds on earlier backing from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Contributions to McHenry Library, the main campus library, increased as construction began on a major addition to the building. Once work is completed in 2007, a "reading garden," funded by a gift from William Ackerknecht, will surround the library. Inside, the expanded library will include a new California History Room at Special Collections, funded by the Hugh Stuart Center Charitable Trust. The library also received works, valued at $1.15 million, by acclaimed American photographer Brett Weston (1911-1993) from collector Christian Keesee and the Brett Weston Archive.
An unusual gift by the Silicon Valley Off-Road Robotics Association is designed to enhance research in the School of Engineering on obstacle avoidance and autonomous driving. The $850,000 Overbot is an off-road vehicle that has been extensively modified for driverless operations. Its special equipment includes sonar, radar, and a computer-controlled throttle, steering, and brakes.
A very human problem--the widespread H. pylori bacteria, which can lead to ulcers and cancer--is the target of a $720,000 research grant by the American Cancer Society. The organization is supporting UCSC researchers searching for H. pylori genes or genes important in helping H. pylori survive or cause disease. This research could lead to methods of blocking H. pylori's impact or eliminating it altogether.
A longtime interest in the environment led to a commitment of $350,000 for the Olga T. Griswold Chair in Environmental Studies, endowed by her son, Craig Griswold. The Griswold family spent summers in Aptos, near Santa Cruz, and Olga Griswold taught her children about marine life and the importance of protecting the environment.
In addition, $2.76 million was raised through Annual Giving programs, including more than $604,000 from alumni. Alumni also contributed $180,563 in reunion giving, and $86,777 was raised for the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund. Trustees of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation gave $473,456. UC Santa Cruz students themselves raised nearly $1 million by reaching out to alumni and parents through the student-run Telephone Outreach Program. Almost 2,000 people who had never before given to UC Santa Cruz responded this year to the program, in which donors direct their contributions to different campus needs.
"When you see the amazing and important projects these gifts support, you can't help but celebrate the selflessness and vision of the people and organizations that give so generously," said Donna Murphy, vice chancellor of University Relations at UC Santa Cruz. "Each gift makes the campus better and benefits the greater society by helping educate today's students and seeking solutions to issues and problems facing the world."
