Our Stories

Philanthropy is a process of discovery. Supporters and scholars learn and grow together. These stories illustrate the meaningful relationships that enrich our campus community and beyond.

Discover what inspires our community of supporters.

Our Stories List

A Founding Innovator

Dr. Ian Duncan has created and sold multiple healthcare data analytics companies. With the proceeds, he established an endowed chair for the UCSB Department of Statistics and Applied Probability. He is a founding member of the UC Santa Barbara Innovators Circle, a network of entrepreneurs who share expertise and take a pledge to support campus.

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.

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.

Emerita Carol Dixon, Ann Kaganoff ’75,’81 and Tina Hansen McEnroe ’89 holding books

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.

High Five

The UC Santa Barbara community collectively raised $6,511,450 through 3,537 gifts on UCSB Give Day 2024, breaking all records and solidifying its place as a celebrated campus tradition. When the clock struck midnight on April 11, the excitement began. The following 36 hours passed in a rush of generosity and camaraderie. Alumni, parents and friends set the tone with matching gifts and participation challenges.

The Highest Ideals

Laura Cox ’83 and Jay Cohen ’84 support the university through philanthropy and leadership in the Division of Social Sciences. Their efforts focus on creating educational opportunities and promoting social equity, particularly through the PROPEL Scholars Program, which aids first-generation students. The couple also supports The 2035 Initiative, which advances clean energy and environmental policy. Their involvement aims to help students thrive and advance public policy.

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.

A Common Human Language

Eva Haller’s connection to UC Santa Barbara spans over 40 years, marked by her generosity, service, and commitment to social justice. A survivor of the Nazi occupation of Hungary, she moved to New York as a young undocumented immigrant. After establishing a successful communications company, she joined the UC Santa Barbara Foundation Board of Trustees in 1985. Eva and her husband, Yoel, have supported the numerous campus initiatives such as Arts & Lectures and the Art, Design & Architecture Museum.

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.

Celebrating 50 Years of UCSB Women’s Sports

When Title IX turned 50 on June 23, 2022, the university celebrated the past five decades of women’s athletics at UC Santa Barbara while reimagining its future. When hardworking student-athletes come together with strong leadership and the collective support of the Gaucho community, it’s a home run for UC Santa Barbara.

Unbroken Lines

‘I have to write things down to feel I fully comprehend them,’ wrote Haruki Murakami, one of the many authors on the shelf of the late Michael Garren Tinney ’01. A prolific writer who sought to understand the world, Garren’s legacy will continue through the M. Garren Tinney Memorial Fund. Garren’s mother, Donna “Dee Dee” Tinney, established this fund to support three writing awards in his memory.

Everything Intertwined

Yardi Systems helped launch UC Santa Barbara’s Wildfire Resilience Initiative in 2022, enhancing collaborative wildfire management through research, data, and technology. Yardi’s support reflects its commitment to addressing climate change and its long-standing involvement with campus, ensuring that the initiative benefits both the local community and broader global efforts.

Group of study abroad students in Germany

To Germany and Back Again

Jim Maloney ’84 traveled to Germany this summer with his husband, Andrew, for a special reunion: the 40th anniversary of his study abroad experience. Thirteen of his classmates gathered in Göttingen to celebrate the milestone. Inspired by that junior year abroad, Jim became a strong advocate for the UC Santa Barbara Education Abroad Program. He has named UCSB EAP as a beneficiary in his estate plan to continue helping students have that same transformative experience.

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.

Moving the Needle

A documentary about whales. A multimedia story about how fashion can empower young women overcoming injustice. A social media campaign for Healing Justice, Santa Barbara’s local chapter of Black Lives Matter. These are just a few of the prosocial projects created by students in UC Santa Barbara’s Impact Media Internship program, supported by Mike and Diane Christian of Someone Else’s Child Foundation.

‘The Doors of Perception’

Works by Blake are among the many books in the Dean & Kim Pananides Trianon Press Collection, curated over the past 25 years by the Pananides and generously donated to the UC Santa Barbara Library. Founded in 1947 by Arnold Fawcus, Trianon printed a variety of image-based texts featuring artists such as Paul Cézanne and Marcel Duchamp.