Philanthropy in the News

Gift to UCSB Arts & Lectures launches Arnhold A&L Education Initiative to expand, enhance educational programming, outreach

Luminaries John and Jody Arnhold, generous benefactors to UC Santa Barbara, have made a new gift to the university of $1.145 million over three years to create and support the Arnhold A&L Education Initiative within UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L). The Arnhold A&L Education Initiative will serve to deepen the signature cross-campus collaborations that connect A&L’s featured guests with students in the classroom.

Researchers to study the politics of housing development at the local level

Clayton Nall is the third awardee of the Pahl Initiative on the Study of Critical Social Issues in the Division of Social Sciences, a gift of alumni Louise and Stephen Pahl to support rigorous social science research on topics of pressing social importance. Work sponsored by the Pahl Initiative includes the involvement of both graduate and undergraduate students, with the goal of bringing academic research to public discussion.

Facebook donates $1.5 million to Institute for Energy Efficiency to support research into data center efficiency

A new partnership of UC Santa Barbara’s Institute for Energy Efficiency (IEE) and Facebook will accelerate research into energy-efficient data centers and artificial intelligence (AI). Facebook, a leader in developing, building and operating highly reliable and efficient data centers, will provide a three-year, $1.5 million grant in support of the institute’s pioneering research.

Researchers receive Google grant to build better conversational recommender systems

An emerging generation of artificial intelligence could get one step closer to passing the Turing test. With $1 million in funding over three years from Google, a team of computer scientists that includes UC Santa Barbara’s William Wang hopes to gain insights that could lead to a more seamless conversation with online recommender dialog systems

Donors join forces to establish a $1 million chair in Jain studies, within Department of Religious Studies

Adding an important layer to an already robust and well-regarded program, a trio of generous donors has teamed to support research and teaching in Jain studies within the UC Santa Barbara Department of Religious Studies.

Family of scholar, author Robert J. O’Brien donates his collection of over 1,400 theatrical recordings of Shakespeare to UCSB Library

It would be fair to say that few men had as great a love of voices — especially those reciting Shakespeare — as Robert J. O’Brien. The scholar and author amassed a collection of more than 1,400 theatrical recordings of the Bard’s works. Now, thanks to the generosity of his family, that collection has a home at the UC Santa Barbara Library.

Researchers to study pandemic’s impact on the underserved in second project of Pahl Initiative on the Study of Critical Social Issues

By nearly every measure, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a disproportionate toll on the disadvantaged. How this disparity might be addressed will be the focus of new research at UC Santa Barbara through the Pahl Initiative on the Study of Critical Social Issues in the Division of Social Sciences. The Pahl Initiative is a gift of alumni Louise and Stephen Pahl to support rigorous social science research on topics of pressing social importance.

Nicole Lamartine ready to do the heavy lifting as UC Santa Barbara’s new choir director

When Nicole Lamartine agreed to become the inaugural Sorensen Director of Choral Music at UC Santa Barbara, she knew she was in for a challenge. What she didn’t expect, maybe: no students on campus.

Physicists will develop instruments to directly image exoplanets

The search for life on planets beyond our solar system has long been the purview of science fiction, but a UC Santa Barbara team supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation is now building the technology to do just that.

Foundation Trustee Betty Elings Wells gifts $500,000 to Promise Scholars program to support high-achieving, low-income students

Philanthropy plays a huge role in the program’s success — and the student scholars have now inspired a significant gift. Betty Elings Wells, longtime benefactor of the campus and current chair of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation Board of Trustees, has donated $500,000 to support Promise Scholars.

Benioff Ocean Initiative and The Coca-Cola Foundation announce $11 million in funding to clean up rivers and stem flow of waste to oceans

The partnership combines The Coca-Cola Foundation’s commitment to support behavioral change projects regarding recycling and the Benioff Ocean Initiative’s expertise in developing innovative ways to collect and analyze waste from our rivers and oceans and address the plastic crisis.

In a landmark year for philanthropy to the campus, UC Santa Barbara raises $180 million in new gifts and pledges.

UC Santa Barbara’s five-year annual fundraising totals now average $125 million, a 25% increase over prior years, and fiscal year 2019 marks the best fundraising year in campus history.

Gift from alumnus John Arnhold and wife Jody will propel Gaucho tennis programs for student-athletes, fans, community.

Arnhold’s passion for the sport and steadfast belief in its values is perhaps matched only by his firm belief in his alma mater, UC Santa Barbara. Together with his wife Jody, Arnhold ’75, a trustee of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation, has donated $5.25 million to UC Santa Barbara Athletics in support of its women’s and men’s tennis teams.

UC Santa Barbara reaches $100 million in fundraising for fourth straight year; receives more single donations than ever.


Thousands of new donors and a $100 million year. For the fourth consecutive fundraising year, UC Santa Barbara in the 2017-18 fiscal year raised $100 million in gifts and pledges — a testament to the strength of the university’s relationships with alumni, parents, staff and faculty, and friends.

Addition of lights to Uyesaka Stadium will enable night games, enhancements to benefit student-athletes, campus and community.

Creating new opportunities for Gaucho baseball, for Gaucho fans and for the Santa Barbara community at large, UCSB Athletics will soon install lights at Uyesaka Stadium. A goal of the department for many years, the $1.3 million project has now been made possible through the generosity of multiple donors.