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

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.

Laying the Foundation for the Future

Scholars in UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Chemical Engineering have a long tradition of collaboration through joint appointments and proposals as well as shared students, post-docs and facilities. This cooperative spirit influences the department’s success. With the help of alumni and friends, the Department of Chemical Engineering has launched the Foundation for the Future Graduate Student Initiative with a goal to raise $5 million.

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.

The Start of Something Larger

Building on their vision and on their longtime generosity to campus, Stephen ’77 and Louise ’77 Pahl have made a $10.5 million gift to UC Santa Barbara to create the Pahl Center on the Study of Critical Social Issues in the Social Sciences. It includes an irrevocable $10 million gift through their estate and $500,000 in start-up funding for the next five years. Through the Pahl Center, UC Santa Barbara will raise the work of the Pahl Initiative to new heights, establishing a framework to achieve the ambitious goals it set out.

Universal Stories

A successful venture capitalist with a commitment to fostering cross-cultural ties between the U.S. and Japan, Andrew Ogawa ’95 made a gift to the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies in honor of his experience. Faculty will use funds to enrich teaching materials for Japanese language studies and provide students opportunities to engage with Japanese scholars and professionals in Japanese and in translation work.

The Interactive Learning Pavilion

The Interactive Learning Pavilion provides roughly 2,000 seats of classroom space, increasing the university’s capacity by 35%. This innovative building will reduce student waitlists, increase flexibility and improve access to classes that students need to graduate in four years. By naming a prestigious space, you will help UC Santa Barbara welcome students to the Interactive Learning Pavilion.

Honoring Gloria Moy Petersen

In fall 2023, select junior faculty will receive transformative support through The Gloria Moy Petersen Fellowship in the UC Santa Barbara Society of Hellman Fellows. Gloria's sister and brother-in-law, Marjorie Moy and Ajit Sabnis, created this fellowship in memory of Gloria, who passed away in January 2023. Gloria was a respected genetic epidemiologist and pancreatic cancer researcher who saved many lives through early detection and treatment. Thanks to the The Hellman Fellows Fund, Gloria's endowment doubled.

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.

A Winning Formula

Gene Lucas retired in 2013 as executive vice chancellor after serving campus for 36 years. Colleagues and friends established the Gene and Susan Lucas Undergraduate Research Fund to honor and recognize his contributions as a scholar, teacher and gifted administrator. Gene and his late wife, Susan, were proud to support the fund. The Gene and Susan Lucas Undergraduate Research Fund helps first-generation undergraduate students research in partnership with UC Santa Barbara faculty.

Protecting Ocean Forests

Helen Hansma ’75, associate adjunct professor emerita, is the granddaughter of a botany professor; plants are in her genes. After a prestigious career as a biophysicist, Helen found herself returning to her lifelong fondness for kelp. Her bequest to support kelp research at UC Santa Barbara will help provide the resources needed to monitor and protect these critical marine forests.