UC San Diego: UC San Diego Raises $3.05 Billion as Campaign for UC San Diego Concludes
The University of California San Diego has reached the conclusion of its landmark Campaign for UC San Diego, raising a total of $3.05 billion in philanthropic support over a span of 10 years. The funds have spurred a significant campus transformation, increased access with scholarships and fellowships for the next generation of leaders and expanded the university’s positive global impact with research that is addressing some of the world’s most pressing concerns.
Founded in 1960, UC San Diego is the nation’s youngest university to reach a multibillion-dollar fundraising goal in a single campaign, raising $1 billion more than the original $2 billion goal. More than 163,000 supporters designated charitable gifts and grants to over 450 different areas across campus, including UC San Diego Health and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In the final year of the Campaign, which concluded on June 30, 2022, the campus raised a record-breaking $420 million, setting an upward trajectory for continued transformation and impact.
“The incredible support from our generous donors during the Campaign for UC San Diego has fueled a remarkable physical, intellectual and cultural transformation that has greatly enhanced the experiences of our students, our patients and our greater San Diego community, in addition to benefiting countless lives around the globe,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Belief in UC San Diego as a force for change gave us three billion new reasons to keep exploring, to keep discovering and to keep impacting the world around us.”
Campaign for UC San Diego volunteer leadership played a critical role in the success of the Campaign. Honorary co-chairs Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Ernest Rady and T. Denny Sanford set the foundation for the Campaign’s success with gifts including $100 million from the Jacobs to establish the Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health, a commitment of $100 million from Ernest and Evelyn Rady for the Rady School of Management, and $200 million in total funds from Sanford to establish both the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health and the T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion.
In addition, more than 100 alumni and community members stepped up to lead this historic effort as members of the Campaign for UC San Diego Cabinet. Every cabinet member donated to the Campaign, generating support totaling $1 billion. More than half of the cabinet was composed of alumni, including cabinet co-chairs Ken Kroner, PhD ’88, and Aryeh Bourkoff ’95, who each supported the Campaign with multimillion-dollar gifts. Many members of the Cabinet are also current or former trustees of the UC San Diego Foundation.
Overall, alumni giving also went up significantly. More than 45,600 alumni donors gave $257 million in gifts, representing an increase of 1,300% over the last campaign.
“We are so incredibly proud of how UC San Diego alumni have come together over the past decade to support their alma mater as a collective group,” said Kimberley Phillips Boehm ’82, UC San Diego Alumni president from 2020-22. “This support is driving the university’s upward trajectory as it makes a difference for future generations of students, spurs innovative research, enhances medicine and transforms our campus.”
Supporting the next generation of changemakers
A key priority of the Campaign for UC San Diego was supporting its outstanding undergraduate and graduate students. The campus raised approximately $378 million for student support and success during the course of the Campaign, creating 315 new scholarship funds, including 163 endowed scholarships, which will remain in perpetuity. In addition, 184 new graduate fellowship funds were established, including 66 endowed fellowships.
A vital program established during the Campaign for UC San Diego was the Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program (CASP). In addition to providing full tuition, fees and housing for high-achieving students from underrepresented communities, the program supports students with a wide range of services and opportunities to ensure that they thrive on campus and are fully engaged in academics, student life and in university experiences. Supported by $8 million in private support, the scholarship has been awarded to more than 1,800 students.
Itzel Guadalupe Jimenez Jimenez ’25, a Karen and Jeff Silberman Chancellor’s Associates Scholar and Lincoln High School graduate, chose to major in Spanish literature, recalling a childhood memory of being in an emergency room while her mother struggled to overcome language barriers. She plans to pursue a career as a translator in the health care industry with the goal of helping all patients get the care they need.
“The Chancellor’s Associates Scholarship has given me a chance to study and pursue my dream career,” said Jimenez Jimenez. “Receiving this scholarship really means a lot to me because it is one less thing my family has to worry about.”
In 2021, Chancellor Khosla announced the Chancellor’s Scholarship and Fellowship Challenge to boost funding for students on campus. Gifts to undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships and health-related professional school scholarships were matched 1:2 by the chancellor. At the close of the challenge, a total of $21 million was raised in gifts and matching funds.
Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs ’79, pledged a total of $2 million to student support as part of the challenge, including adding $1 million to the existing Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs Endowed Fellowship Fund. Jacobs Fellow Marwa Abdalla is a second-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication whose research is focused on anti-Black and anti-Muslim racisms, media representations of Islam and Muslims, and how legacies of imperialism and Orientalism continue to inform conservative and progressive politics.
“Not only is it an honor to be recognized with this fellowship,” said Abdalla, “but the support allows me to focus on connecting my research to national and local efforts aimed at challenging racism in all its forms.”
In addition, several other alumni donors have supported undergraduate scholarships at UC San Diego—often with the goal of boosting equity, diversity and inclusion on campus. Kimberley Phillips Boehm ’82 and Marcus Boehm ’83 donated $1 million to support the PATHways to STEM through Enhanced Access and Mentorship Program (PATHS), which is structured to provide critical mentorship and financial support for undergraduate UC San Diego STEM students from under-resourced communities.