Reaching a Brilliant Future

The University of California, Irvine has transformed over the last decade. From a new hospital in Irvine to eco-friendly residence halls, more than a dozen new buildings have taken shape. Of them, six were largely funded by philanthropy – their shiny windows serve as a brilliant reflection of the community that helped build them.

The Brilliant Future campaign generated $2.4 billion for student support, pioneering research and patient care, making it the largest fundraising effort in UC Irvine’s 60 years and of any organization in Orange County’s history. It exceeded its $2 billion goal ahead of schedule, despite the converging challenges of a global pandemic, state budget shortfalls and federal cuts to research funding.

“The success of the Brilliant Future campaign is a powerful reminder that when a community comes together with a shared vision, anything is possible,” says Chancellor Howard Gillman, who led the university through the duration of the campaign. “Our donors are not just supporters – they are partners in progress. Their generosity has transformed UC Irvine and our community and will continue to shape lives, advance knowledge and serve society for generations to come.”

In addition to the largest gift in O.C.’s history, $200 million from Susan and Henry Samueli, the university received eight gifts of $50 million or more. But beyond those headline-grabbing numbers, the Brilliant Future campaign was, at its heart, a community effort made possible by more than 122,000 individual donors, most often donating $100 or less.

“There were a lot of small gifts made year in and year out by people who are giving what they can afford,” says Gary Singer ’74, chair of the UC Irvine Foundation. “Those gifts are incredibly important, both in terms of the collective monetary impact and how meaningful they are to the students, professors and staff that they bolster.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. When the Brilliant Future campaign publicly launched in October 2019, after several “quiet phase” years, buildings across the county lit up with blue and gold to celebrate. Yet within months, the world was under pandemic lockdowns that reshaped teaching, research and how we lived. However, fundraising did not slow down. By the spring of 2021, the campaign hit its halfway mark, surpassing $1 billion.

“Adversity can breed heroism. In some ways, the pandemic gave all of us at UC Irvine an impetus to work harder, stronger and better,” says Julie Hill, who served as chair of the UC Irvine Foundation for most of the campaign. “It also stopped people in their tracks and forced them to focus on priorities – they had more time to think about legacy and giving back.”

Engaging Anteaters

One key to the campaign’s success: Anteaters. UC Irvine surpassed its campaign goal of engaging 75,000 alumni and, in the process, doubled its alumni networks worldwide. Anteaters from London to Shanghai have supported their alma mater as mentors, event participants or donors over the course of the campaign.

“To see the campus today, thriving with almost 37,000 students and 15 different schools, is a magnificent story of success,” says Singer, who came to the campus as a student-athlete (golf) in 1970 and is now the first alum to chair the UC Irvine Foundation. “Many alumni, including myself, are extremely proud of the institution and very excited about its future.”

“That’s important because, historically, institutions that have been around for 100 or 200 years receive a significant percentage of their philanthropy from alumni,” he adds. “After 60 years, we’re now at the stage where alumni are going to become even more important to our future.”

As the campus matures, many faculty and staff from its early years look to philanthropy as a way to cement their legacy at the institution, and that was reflected in the nearly $42 million that faculty and staff donated during the campaign. Among the many gifts: Alumna and retired staff member Mary Watson-Bruce ’82 endowed a graduate fellowship in honor of her late husband, Dickson “Dave” Bruce, a professor emeritus of history. And longtime staff member Kathy Alberti established a fellowship honoring her late partner and former dean of social sciences, Christian Werner.

Advancing the American Dream

Over the last decade, UC Irvine has earned a reputation as a place where first-generation college students thrive and graduates see their investment in higher education pay off. Twice, The New York Times’ College Access Index declared UC Irvine the campus “doing the most for the American dream.” That’s not a coincidence.

Advancing the American dream was one of four campaign pillars, which also included accelerating world-changing research, transforming healthcare and wellness, and exploring the human experience.

Nearly 85,000 gifts supported students – resulting in 269 new annual scholarship, fellowship and award funds – a testament to the value the community places on higher education.

“I was considering not going to the university unless I received financial aid, because I didn’t have any money. But when UCI came through with a package to help out, that made all the difference in the world,” says Paul Butterworth ’74, M.S. ’81, who, along with his wife, Jo Butterworth ’75, pledged $35.5 million for student support and other areas – UC Irvine’s largest alumni gift ever. “This is what inspired us to pledge support for students – so they can follow their dreams despite their financial situations.”

Beyond financial aid, donors expanded student opportunities. An endowment from UC Irvine trustee and former engineer Stacey Nicholas launched the Women and Engineering Program, and longtime O.C. litigator Michael G. Ermer endowed the School of Law’s pro bono program. “Many of the programs that garnered a lot of grassroots support throughout the campaign are those that directly impact our students, like the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, the ANTrepreneur Center and the SAGE Scholars program,” says Brian Hervey, vice chancellor for university advancement and alumni relations, who led the campaign. “They’re what make UC Irvine unique.”

Accelerating World-Changing Research

With its strong history of breaking down boundaries between disciplines, UC Irvine supercharged existing research, created new research centers, and built spaces dedicated to high-impact, interdisciplinary collaborations, thanks to the campaign.

Biotech entrepreneur Charlie Dunlop donated $50 million to support research and academics in the School of Biological Sciences, which was named in his honor, and the Quilter family committed $50 million to UCI MIND to support its priorities in advancing the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

New centers include the $55 million Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries, dedicated to tackling a condition that 1 in 6 people will experience during their lifetime. Also, the $64.7 million Eddleman Quantum Institute connects scientists from Caltech, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine to further our comprehension of the universe’s smallest particles.

Both the Susan & Henry Samueli Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building and the Falling Leaves Foundation Medical Innovation Building (see story on Page 36), new six-story edifices, were designed to bring together researchers from across disciplines to solve urgent challenges, from addressing a shifting climate to curing blindness.

“One of the most significant things that we did during the campaign was fund buildings that are physical monuments to the concept of multidisciplinary problem-solving and knowledge creation,” Hill says. “As a community, we ought to be very proud of that.”

Transforming Healthcare and Wellness

Outside the campus core, the campaign’s most obvious impacts are in healthcare. UCI Health has doubled in size and is poised to become Orange County’s largest healthcare provider in 2026, largely due to philanthropic support since the start of the campaign.

A historic $200 million gift, among the 10 largest donations to a public university ever, created the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences. It also helped build a 4-acre complex that now houses the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, the Susan Samuel Integrative Health Institute and the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health – the latter three named for campaign donors.

A mile away, the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care and the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, both heavily buoyed by donor gifts, opened their doors at the new UCI Health — Irvine medical complex on Jamboree Road.

Though the buildings are impressive, it’s the stories of lives touched and saved inside their walls that leave a lasting impact. Jimmy Peterson, who co-chaired the Brilliant Future campaign with his wife, Sheila Peterson, is among the thousands treated at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. With the county’s largest portfolio of cancer clinical trials, the site offers hope to patients worldwide. After being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, Peterson enrolled in an experimental immunotherapy drug trial, which he credits with continuing his life today.

Exploring the Human Experience

Celebrating life and exploring the human experience through arts and culture was another pillar of the Brilliant Future campaign. Cultural events and the arts often serve as the community’s entrée to the campus, and patrons demonstrated their appreciation, with programs like the New Swan Shakespeare Festival among those collecting the largest number of smaller gifts.

Major gifts flowed in as well, establishing centers for critical Korean studies and for Jewish studies. Donors endowed chairs in Jain studies, Zoroastrian studies, and the art history and archaeology of ancient Iran. A significant donation from businessman Alec Glasser named the Center for the Power of Music and Social Change, which aims to promote music for well-being and social good.

UC Irvine also strengthened ties with leading arts organizations like the Pacific Symphony, which supported the creation of the Engineering-Symphonic Orchestra New Instrument Competition that gives prizes for students’ musical innovations. Most recently, the Orange County Museum of Art officially became part of the university. That, combined with the $70 million of artwork donated by James Irvine Swinden and Gerald Buck, in addition to a gift from Jack and Shanaz Langson to create the Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, further advanced UC Irvine as the regional leader in arts and culture.

What’s Next

The campaign officially closed on Oct. 4, 2025, but the need for philanthropy continues – perhaps with more urgency than ever as the University of California faces continued state budget cuts and growing uncertainty around federal grant programs that have been the bedrock of American research.

“Our goal is to not slow down,” Hervey says. That means maintaining the university’s current fundraising level of $300 million annually for priorities that include empowering student success, faculty support, elevating arts and culture, and leveraging research to make a difference locally and globally.

Says Singer: “There have been and likely will be more funding cuts, and that presents an opportunity for us as a community to provide support that not only sustains but advances UC Irvine’s academic research and educational excellence.”

The growth fueled by the campaign ultimately feeds back into the community, with UC Irvine serving as one of the county’s top employers, a creator of business-generating innovations, and a producer of skilled alumni filling positions from education to engineering.

“I expect the community will continue to be extremely supportive,” Singer adds. “The success of UC Irvine is inextricably linked to the success of Orange County – and people see the good the university contributes to their lives, their businesses and our society.”