Philanthropy

(DAVIS) The main building of the Center for Neuroscience (CNS) has a new name: “Robert D. Grey Hall” in honor of Robert D. Grey, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Emeritus, who served UC Davis and the University of California system for 37 years. The building dedication ceremony was held October 11, 2023.

Donors to the University of California, Davis, gave robust support to the university during the last fiscal year, exceeding its annual fundraising goal by more than $27 million. Data announced August 8 show the university raised $253 million in FY22-23 in 56,071 gifts and pledges from 31,078 donors.

(DAVIS) Life sciences industry expert Deborah Neff ’76 is giving $8 million to the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences for two endowments, one for the deanship and the other for the Center for Neuroscience for research into Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The gift is the largest by an individual in the college’s history.

UC Davis last week presented its annual Faculty and Staff Stewardship Awards, honoring three individuals considered exceptionally dedicated to building the strong relationships that are critical to the university’s fundraising efforts.

This year’s recipients are recognized as leaders in a variety of fields on the Davis and Sacramento campuses:

(DAVIS) The Center for Neuroscience announces two new funds, the Karen Sigvardt, Ph.D. Neuroscience Award and the Karen Sigvardt, Ph.D. Neuroscience Fellowship.

The award and fellowship were established in October 2021 and endowed through a generous gift from Audrey Webb, in loving memory of her late partner Karen Sigvardt, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Neurology in the School of Medicine and a valued core member of the Center for Neuroscience and the greater neuroscience community at UC Davis.

(DAVIS) Mental health research at the University of California, Davis, has received dedicated endowed support thanks to Bryan Cameron ’80, director of research and senior vice president at Dodge & Cox Investment Managers.

Cameron, a member of the UC Davis Chancellor’s Board of Advisors, gave a $1.5 million gift, to which the UC Office of the President added $500,000, to establish the C. Bryan Cameron Presidential Chair.

Gary and Camille Lonigan like to say that their charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) story is a prime example of a child being a role model for her parents.

"My daughter, Joleen, has dedicated her whole life to UC Davis as a nurse and then funded a nursing scholarship," Gary says. "Through her, we came to realize how important UC Davis is, both as a hospital and a school."

An advocate for computational and quantitative biology, CNS faculty member Mark Goldman has been appointed to the Joel Keizer Endowed Chair in Theoretical and Computational Biology. The position honors the late Professor Joel Keizer, a pioneering UC Davis faculty member and theoretical biologist who spent 28 years on campus. He died on May 16, 1999 from lung cancer at the age of 56.

Recently, the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences named Professor W. Martin Usrey, a neurobiologist interested in the physiology of vision, to the Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Endowed Chair in Physiology. Usrey, who is the chair of the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and a faculty member of the Center for Neuroscience,  will hold the appointment for five years. The endowment will support his research, teaching and service activities.