Library Planned Giving
For the Love of Listening
Harry Smith Glaze Jr.’s remarkable collection of more than 2,000 rare opera recordings is available at UC Santa Barbara, where it will be preserved and shared through the Library’s Performing Arts Collection thanks to his daughter, Cathy. She also established the Harry Smith Glaze Jr. Fund for the Performing Arts to ensure its long-term care and accessibility.
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Publisher, Leader, Benefactor
Sara Miller McCune H’05 is a pioneering publisher, dedicated philanthropist, and longtime UC Santa Barbara leader. Her far-reaching support across the social sciences, Arts & Lectures, the Library, and more reflects a steadfast belief in the power of research and the humanities to strengthen democracy.
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A Life in Languages
Professor Harvey Sharrer’s lifelong dedication to medieval Iberian literature lives on through a bequest that supports graduate students in Spanish and Portuguese studies at UC Santa Barbara. His gift represents a career defined by discovery and mentorship.
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When a Home Becomes a Legacy
When Erika Davis decided to downsize, she turned her home into an opportunity to help students. Through a charitable gift annuity with UC Santa Barbara, she secured her retirement, created the Richard and Erika Davis Scholarship, and left a lasting legacy for students.
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In Their Names
David McDonald ’85 has created four named scholarships and an endowed fund for the UCSB Library to honor his family's lives. His gifts ensure lasting financial support for students, connecting his family’s legacy to future generations.
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Everyone Can See the Stars
Larry and Dee Franks, longtime Friends of KITP and familiar faces at Chalk Talks, have ensured a legacy of discovery with one of KITP’s first unrestricted bequests. Their planned gift reflects decades of connection to UC Santa Barbara and will support the institute’s greatest needs well into the future.
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Education for All
Dr. James Stretch ’78,’84 and Dr. Sybil Carrère ’78 are leaving a lasting impact on UC Santa Barbara through a planned gift that will support aquatic biology students. Their generosity helps ensure that more students can pursue hands-on scientific research.
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Basic Science is Key
Sam Handelman ’77 and Barbara Pettersen have made one of the Department of Mathematics' first legacy gifts. Their support champions fundamental science and provides flexible resources to help graduate students and faculty pursue research.
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In Tribute to Glen Henry Mitchel, Jr.
A $1 million matching gift in memory of Glen Henry Mitchel, Jr. inspired a wave of support for the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, culminating in $2 million to advance the Mitchel Postdoctoral Scholars Career Development Fund. This collective tribute honors Glen’s lifelong passion for physics.
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"Chomaha!"
John Davis (JD) ’82,’84 passionately supports UC Santa Barbara Baseball as a trustee and long-time advocate. He launched the Chomaha Fund in 2021 to strengthen community support and designated a bequest to ensure the program's future. His efforts have expanded the team’s donor base, improved facilities, and helped UCSB Baseball achieve success, including multiple Big West Championships and NCAA appearances. JD’s legacy gift and mentorship continue to impact players.
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An Intellectual Home
Jennifer Ho ’92 found her future in UC Santa Barbara's Asian American studies classes. She is now the director of the Center for the Humanities & the Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she teaches classes on Asian American culture and Critical Race Theory. Jennifer hopes her bequest to the UCSB Department of Asian American Studies will provide stability and flexibility for the department.
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A Legacy of Inquiry
Ann Fingarette Hasse created the Leslie S. and Herbert Fingarette Endowment to honor her parents and support UC Santa Barbara philosophy graduate students, enabling them to present research at conferences. Her gift continues UCSB Professor Herbert Fingarette’s legacy of curiosity-driven scholarship. Ann’s endowment fosters the same intellectual exploration that her father championed.
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Literacy Luminaries
Professor Emerita Carol Dixon founded the UCSB Reading Clinic in 1973 and mentored many students whose impact has rippled throughout the classrooms and communities they served. Of these students, two accomplished educators — Ann Kaganoff ’75,’81 and Tina Hansen McEnroe ’89 — have joined Carol in philanthropic commitments to shape the work of literacy education at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education.
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How to Nourish a Community
The late entrepreneur James Jimenez was a key player in the Mexican food industry and a lifelong advocate for education. He created the James Jimenez Scholars Endowment to provide financial support to undergraduate students from underserved schools, with a preference for those from his local Fillmore High School.
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The Global Campus
Ernie and Leslie Zomalt’s transformative international experiences at UC Santa Barbara inspired their lifelong dedication to global education. They established and endowed the Ernest and Leslie Zomalt International Education Fund to support students in UCSB's Education Abroad Program. Through their legacy gifts, the Zomalts ensure lasting support for future generations of international learners.
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Boosting Energy-Efficient Research
Dr. John Bowers, director of UC Santa Barbara’s Institute for Energy Efficiency (IEE), has committed a legacy gift to support graduate students with the aim to expand research in energy efficiency. Since 2008, IEE has pioneered innovations in areas like data transmission, sustainable agriculture, and LED technology to improve energy use worldwide. Bowers' support will empower more students to contribute to the institute’s goal of creating a sustainable future.
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A Study in Service
Prathibha “Sewwi” Madigapola-Liberty ’14, ’15 and Taylor Liberty ’14 created an estate plan at 29, designating their passions at UC Santa Barbara — the Teacher Education Program and the Department of History of Art and Architecture — as beneficiaries. Sewwi, inspired by her volunteer work and time in the Teacher Education Program, launched an educational company supporting students with special learning needs. Taylor’s love for architecture shifted his career path from engineering to art history.
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An Important Place
When Frederick Charles Hock Jr., father of three Gauchos, passed away in 2022 at age 83, he left an estate gift to the university that shaped his children’s lives. The generosity of the Hock family established the first unrestricted endowment at UC Santa Barbara, one able to sustain any part of the UCSB experience at the discretion of campus leadership.
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Scientists Lead Us
Katherine and Donald Denhart raised their family between a ranch in South San Jose and on their property in Oahu. Their daughter, Sandra Denhart ’73, remembers a childhood of swimming, surfing, snorkeling and caring for the land’s resources. In honor of her parents, Sandra has named UC Santa Barbara as a beneficiary of her estate to support coral reef conservation and Alzheimer’s research on campus.
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The Bonds of the Surfrider Battalion
UC Santa Barbara’s U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program is home of the Surfrider Battalion, where Mark ’89 and Julie ’90 Flower fell in love during their Army ROTC years, and their legacy gift will help provide financial assistance for ROTC students. Mark and Julie share many memories of their time on campus, including meals at Pizza Bob’s in Isla Vista after field training. Later, their daughter Samantha would graduate from UC Santa Barbara in 2017.
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