Supporters Like You

Meet Our Donors

We are thankful for those who have made an estate gift to UC San Diego. Here are their stories.

Epstein Family Amphitheater

Epstein Family Amphitheater Debut Events to Showcase Talent from UC San Diego and Beyond

The debut of the Epstein Family Amphitheater at UC San Diego, located just steps from the Blue Line trolley station, expands access to theatre, dance, music, and more for audiences throughout San Diego.

Epstein Family Pioneers Path to Alzheimer’s Treatment Options

After the Epstein family experienced the heartache Alzheimer’s disease brings, they provided a generous gift to establish a research collaboration and ensure access to therapies for those with Alzheimer’s.

Defying Expectations

Dawn Beattie ’84 is used to defying expectations, whether it’s pursuing an engineering degree or buying a house in her 20s or fostering new interests after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in her 30s.

New Scholarship to Increase Access for Most Promising Medical Students

The impact of Ann Bedell Hunt’s blended gift to create the Bedell Family Endowed Medical Scholarship at UC San Diego School of Medicine for worthy students in need of financial assistance is profound. The scholarship is particularly important for minority students whose access to medical school has been more limited historically.

A Well-Informed Fan

For some people, a passion for sports starts early. For others, it evolves as they learn to play. And for still others, it develops later. Jeff Fenton ’80 remembers when he became a sports enthusiast: during the 1979-80 Triton basketball season.

Advocating For Progress

Ed Spriggs ’70 understands the challenges of a biracial identity. But attending UC San Diego as the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power ramped up solidified for Ed the importance of community development, and it continues to influence his advocacy for Black students on campus.

Triton Spirit

Marge Seybold wants to ensure that future generations of young women have the opportunity to pursue their athletic dreams. She's included UC San Diego in her planned giving to support Triton women's basketball in perpetuity.

The Right Place at the Right Time

Janet Fisher '76 thought she was going to "the other place," the one east of the 15, when she and her father drove down to San Diego from Los Angeles for a weekend event for Black applicants. But as soon as she saw the ocean view, she knew UC San Diego was where she belonged.

Giving for Student Success

As a financial advisor, Brian Quan is committed to helping others achieve their philanthropic goals. He fulfilled his own legacy with a gift to UCSD.

In Passionate Support of UC San Diego

Becky Cohen says her UC San Diego experience strengthened her artistic passion. A gift in her estate plan will help students pursue their own passions at UC San Diego.

A Nonconventional Path

Bruce Hawkins would not have been able to attend UC San Diego without help. He's paying it forward with support for future students.

Carmen Gloria Catalan

Making the Future a Better Place

High school is an opportunity to dream big, to fantasize about traveling the globe or changing the world. For Carmen Gloria Catalan (CG), those youthful dreams became reality.

Making Scholarships a Reality by Giving Real Estate

Sandra Timmons and her husband, Richard Sandstrom, have supported UC San Diego in many ways, most recently with a gift of real estate.

Learning Legacy

Professor Emeritus John C. Wheeler was recently honored with the Dickson Award recognizing educators who show an exceptional commitment to learning. The award was funded by an endowed trust.

Irving Tragen: Life Full Circle

Irving Tragen has supported UC San Diego for years. Together with his late wife, Ele, Irving made a gift through his estate plan that will help students for years to come.

Gift Inspired By Daughters and Asking, "What Is Joyful to Me?"

There wasn't a singular a-ha! moment or incident that sparked the gift to support students at UC San Diego. Rather, it was the result of a culmination of encounters and observations that Subert Wong had experienced over many years, including a growing wonder of the nature of philanthropy in America.

Linda Tseng-Ong

Couple's Shared Story of Success and Generosity Includes UC San Diego

Linda Tseng-Ong and James Ong’s individual narratives of immigrating to the United States in their teens offer two portraits of the American dream. By chance, UC San Diego played a part in their shared story of accomplishment, appreciation and generosity.

A Life-Changing Journey

For Lois Yu '93, MS '95 the journey of self-discovery is a story that started decades before she was born.

David Gubser: Quiet Maverick

Dave Gubser is a trailblazer, and surprised about it. When he established endowments through his estate plans to support the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) communities at both UC San Diego and San Diego State, “they told me no one had ever done this before.”

Supporter Discovers Giving as Bridge to the Future

Jenny Kallis came to the realization that her 1920s Venice home and office could not only be a nest for today, but also a way to leave a positive mark on the planet tomorrow.

Smart Giving: Accessible to Everyone

Meet Esther Mayfield, a saavy philanthropist who supports UC San Diego because of its long-term capability to fulfill a donor’s vision.

Donor Spotlight: Cinda Lucas

It’s not uncommon for grateful patients to maintain a connection with the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center after being treated by the center’s outstanding healthcare team. It’s less common to find grateful strangers like Cinda K. Lucas, whose involvement with Moores began with a phone conversation in 1983 with Dr. Mark Green, the soon-to-be executive director of the cancer center.

Donor Spotlight: Barbara Baehr

At the age of 96, Barbara Baehr has led an adventurous life. Her heart and mind has always brought her back to medicine and education, which is why she supports scholars in UC San Diego's MD/PhD program, and international students in particular.

Keeping the American Dream Alive at UC San Diego

As Jimmy Thai '90 was leaving The Preuss School UCSD after giving a presentation to a roomful of teens, a student approached him and said, "Mr. Thai, thank you so much; you really gave me hope. I'll remember this talk for the rest of my life."

Donor Spotlight: Marty Winkler

It's been more than 50 years but Marty Winkler, MS '68 Engineering, can still tell you the name of the donor who helped make it possible for him to attend Cornell University.

Judy Moore: Paying It Forward

When someone fixes your broken heart, you want to give something back – or forward. This is where Judy Moore stands, and because of it, she will help many hearts get the special care they need.

David and Margaret Engel

Donor Spotlight: David and Margaret Engel

There are countless people who, having served in the Navy in San Diego, try to figure out how to get back here. David and Margaret Engel are among those who succeeded, and are grateful for the circumstances that enabled them to do so.

Mercedes and George Kurth

Donor Spotlight: Mercedes and George Kurth

It's been quite a tour of major medical centers for the Kurths in recent years, covering a stage-four tumor to a double bypass, with a diabetes scare and painful tendonitis thrown in. No wonder they’re so cheerful!

Clint and Maggie Spangler

Donor Spotlight: Maggie and Clint Spangler

In the late '80s, when UC San Diego’s academic and research trajectory was on a sure and steep rise, the university was still finding its voice with the community. Newly arrived La Jolla residents Clint and Maggie Spangler (whose son graduated from UC San Diego) nudged it a bit by contacting the university to set up a charitable remainder trust.

A Good Break

Just five months after stepping out as an independent wealth advisor in 2013, Heather Hastey found herself on the bathroom floor one evening, staring at a wrist so thoroughly shattered from a fall that she nearly passed out twice making her way to the phone.

Joseph & Rita Romero

The Legacy of a Happy Boy

Seizures in children have many causes and many faces. Joseph Romero was dealt the full deck of a wide range of seizures. But UC San Diego provided Joseph with the best care.

Michael Estrada

Life-changing Event Inspires Gift to UC San Diego

A health scare prompted Michael Estrada ’79 to make a gift to support UC San Diego's Alternative Breaks program.

$1.25 Million Legacy Gift Boosts UC San Diego’s Department of Theatre and Dance

Teachers often inspire students, but students can move teachers, too. Such was the case during a recent visit to UC San Diego's Department of Theatre and Dance by long-time educator and arts supporter Lois Chant.

Paying It Forward

Read how one alumnus gives back to UC San Diego.

Julie and Jim Lin

Providing a Sense of Belonging for All Students, Now and in the Future

UC San Diego Math Professor Jim Lin is "living the dream of education." The son of Chinese immigrants, Dr. Lin credits the University of California with preparing him for success as a professor and for giving him a platform to help bridge cultural divides with many groundbreaking programs, not only for his math students, but for the entire university population.

Alice Goldfarb Marquis, Ph.D.

Alumna Bequest Ensures Library Benefits for Future Scholars

When Alice Goldfarb Marquis, Ph.D., an accomplished writer, historian and alumna of UC San Diego, left $1.1 million to support the UC San Diego Libraries, her gift became the largest bequest ever to the Libraries.

Esther Mayfield

Smart Giving: Not Just for the Wealthy

Esther Mayfield is a pragmatic philanthropist. For her, charitable remainder trusts and annuities make so much sense all around that she'll take you under her wing immediately as a potential convert.

Flying Samaritan Endows a Legacy of Low Income Health Care

Although he was not a medical doctor, A. Nash Williams certainly knew about health care. That's because he had been involved with The Flying Samaritans since 1968.

Elaine Antoniuk

Channeling Her Passion to Support Education

Universities are magnets for the curious, the explorers. "We've always been involved with universities, wherever we lived," said Elaine Antoniuk, describing how she and her late husband, Stephen, left their home in Alberta, Canada, to live in places as far-flung as Iran and Chicago, Oklahoma and London, Wyoming and San Diego.

Making UC San Diego a Family Affair

Many UC San Diego alumni remember the campus in the same way that Curtis Abbott does: up on a hill surrounded by eucalyptus.

Giving Students the Power to Change the World

Devendra Lal first visited the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego as a post—doc in 1958 and spent the next 50 years of contributing to basic research there.

Nori and Stanley Faer

Impacting the Future Through Gift Planning

"When Nori and I married," said Stanley Faer, "I warned her that we would eventually move to San Diego." In 2003, he made good on his word when the two left Manhattan and set up house in Valley Center.

Lois and Francis Hamersky

You Don't Have To Be Wealthy To Make A Difference

If anyone knows the value of a dollar—and what it means to make a gift of one's hard—earned money—it is someone who has gone through the Great Depression. Lois and Francis Hamersky qualify on both counts. The Imperial Beach residents—who are generous donors to UC San Diego—endured the most tumultuous economic period in American history.

Help Future UC San Diego College Students by Planning Today

Susan Papanek, who received her bachelor's degree from UC San Diego in 1975, is now a vice president of a software company in Carlsbad. Susan recently became a member of the York Society through a planned gift to UC San Diego.

Dr. Kurt and Bee Shuler

The Right Chemistry

Dr. Kurt and Bee Shuler have wonderful stories of UC San Diego that go back to 1967, when he was lured away from his position as Assistant Director and Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Maryland to chair the Chemistry Department at this fledgling university.

Ilse Warschawski

Faculty Gifts Ensure a Lasting Legacy

Ilse Warschawski left more than $1 million, through her estate, to UC San Diego, in honor of her late husband and founder of the university's department of mathematics, Stefan (Steve) Warschawski.

Leaving an Endowment Legacy

Donald Wilkie, director of the Birch Aquarium for 30 years, decided to make his relationship with the aquarium permanent when he became a member of the York Society through a charitable gift annuity to benefit the aquarium's endowment fund.

Trude Kahn Hollander, M.D.

Vision of the Future

Trude Kahn Hollander, M.D., is a longtime friend of the UC San Diego Shiley Eye Center, a friendship that began in the late 1990s when she received treatment there.