Changing the World Through Philanthropy: UC San Diego Raises $3.05 Billion as Campaign for UC San Diego Concludes

From scholarships and fellowships to research to address the world's greatest challenges, funds from more than 163,000 donors are making a difference locally, nationally and around the globe

SAN DIEGO, July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 UC San Diego 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."

To read more about the Campaign for UC San Diego and the remarkable impact of our donors' generous gifts over the last decade, please click here.

SOURCE University of California San Diego