UC Irvine raises $120.1 million, setting campus and county record

The University of California, Irvine raised $120.1 million in private gifts and grants for the 2006-07 fiscal year, nearly a 19 percent increase over last year. This amount breaks the single-year fundraising record not only for the campus, but also for any organization or institution in Orange County. UCI also received a record number of gifts – 26,881. During the last five years, annual private gift/grant support to the university has increased nearly 243 percent (from $35 million to more than $120 million); the number of gifts has increased by more than 57 percent (from 17,088 to 26,881); and the endowment has increased nearly 97 percent (from $117.1 million to more than $230 million).

Chancellor Michael V. Drake has led UCI for 25 months, during which time more than $250 million has been raised. Drake has now set a challenging goal for the Irvine campus: Over the next 10 years, the University of California, Irvine will chart a course to ascend into the ranks of the top 1 percent of universities nationwide.

“Over the past year, the University of California, Irvine has climbed to new heights with winning sports teams, noteworthy faculty achievements, extraordinary new facilities and the largest graduating class in our history,” Drake said. “We are a reflection of the greater Orange County community, and with its continued guidance, generosity and entrepreneurial vision, this university will continue to prosper.”

Private gifts and grants contribute to the university’s success by helping it achieve academic and research excellence in areas not fully funded by state sources. Increasing community support of UCI’s programs across many disciplines helped the campus break its fundraising record this year. Among this year’s many significant donations were a $10 million naming gift that established the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center; $6.6 million from the Beall Family Foundation to expand current activities and launch new programs in the Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship within the Paul Merage School of Business; a $1 million dollar lead gift from the Joan Irvine Smith and Athalie R. Clarke Foundation to the new School of Law; and a $1 million dollar lead gift from the Thomas and Misako Yuen Family Foundation for the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.

“UC Irvine is a forward-thinking, enterprising university that fosters a culture of innovation, and it is surrounded by a dynamic and prosperous community. Together, we share a desire to create opportunities and make a difference,” said Thomas J. Mitchell, vice chancellor of University Advancement and president of the University of California, Irvine Foundation.

The record-breaking fiscal-year total is the capstone to a year of campus achievements that include the dedication of Aldrich Hall; the recruitment of Dr. David N. Bailey as the vice chancellor of Health Affairs; the momentum for the new university hospital, which is now 70 percent complete and on time and on budget; the establishment of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center; the dedication of Bren Hall, a new building within the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences complex; the continued national recognition of Nobel Laureate F. Sherwood Rowland; the national success of UCI’s men’s volleyball and baseball teams; and the establishment of the School of Law.