UCI closes its second-highest fundraising year with over $223 million

Irvine, Calif., Sept. 14, 2022 — With more than $223 million raised, the University of California, Irvine is celebrating its second-highest fundraising year ever.

The fiscal 2022 amount gives a significant boost to UCI’s Brilliant Future campaign, an ambitious fundraising and alumni engagement effort publicly launched in October 2019 that has ushered in some of the university’s highest fundraising years. In fact, the previous second-highest record-holder was fiscal 2021, with $216 million raised.

Only the 2017 fundraising total of $329 million topped the 2022 amount. That year included a $200 million gift from Henry and Susan Samueli to name the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences; it was one of the largest gifts ever to a public university.

One of 2022’s largest giving designations was for campus improvement and infrastructure support, a category that saw a 38 percent increase in total donation amount over the prior year: $68 million v. $49 million. Much of this growth came from community members like Joe C. Wen and his family, who gave in support of the upcoming UCI Health – Irvine medical complex.

“I am extraordinarily grateful to our donors for investing in UCI’s impactful research, teaching, patient care and public service mission,” said Brian Hervey, vice chancellor for university advancement and alumni relations and president of the UCI Foundation. “The support we received will dramatically affect our students, faculty, staff and patients.”

Donors also increased their investment in promising research by about 40 percent over last year – from more than $39 million to almost $55 million. And UCI faculty and staff boosted their giving to $5.6 million, nearly doubling 2021’s total of $2.9 million.

Healthcare and research are just two of the many areas to which donors contributed. Gifts received in fiscal 2022 went to the four objectives of the Brilliant Future campaign: advancing the American dream for students, transforming healthcare and wellness, accelerating world-changing research, and exploring the human experience.

Major donations that helped make 2021-22 a banner year for private support included:

• $57.75 million from the Audrey Steele Burnand estate to establish a campuswide center that will pursue research into the causes and treatment of depression. The gift will also support the UCI-managed Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center.
• $30 million from the Falling Leaves Foundation, established by professor Robert A. Mah and Dr. Adeline Yen Mah, to fund an innovative UCI medical research building.
• $20 million from Joe C. Wen and his family to name the new Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care at the UCI Health – Irvine medical complex.
• $11 million from the Jacobs Foundation to create a collaborative network to help tailor digital technologies for children.
• $3 million from the Sue J. Gross Foundation to advance nursing training and education.
• $3 million from Stacey Nicholas to further the School of Education’s ambitious projects for improving environmental and climate change literacy in California’s classrooms.
• A naming gift from Jack and Shanaz Langson to support the construction and operation of the Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art.
• Multi-million dollar gift from Ralph and Sue Stern to support a cancer center at UCI Health – Irvine.

Each gift to UCI contributes to the Brilliant Future campaign’s ongoing success. To date, more than 86,000 supporters have given over $1.3 billion to the campaign – nearly two-thirds of its $2 billion goal.

About UCI’s Brilliant Future campaign: Publicly launched on Oct. 4, 2019, the Brilliant Future campaign aims to raise awareness and support for UCI. By engaging 75,000 alumni and garnering $2 billion in philanthropic investment, UCI seeks to reach new heights of excellence in student success, health and wellness, research and more. Learn more by visiting https://brilliantfuture.uci.edu.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.

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