Meet our donors

Planned gifts are designed to unite your philanthropic and financial goals. Many UC Santa Cruz alumni, faculty and staff, and community supporters have chosen to include the university in their estate plan.

An alumna who has included UC Santa Cruz in her estate plans shared that she "chose to make a planned gift out of gratitude for my education at UC Santa Cruz. I pursued an academic career and have referred to the distinctive experimental nature of UC Santa Cruz's curriculum, which I cherish. I believe in the importance of education and want others to have the opportunity for an enriched UC Santa Cruz education in the future."

The generosity of individuals such as this alumna ensures that UC Santa Cruz can continue its mission to educate, to enlighten, and to serve. I hope you will be inspired by these gifts and begin to think about creating your own planned gift. Please contact us to discuss your options.

  • Bruce ThompsonBruce Thompson
    Thompson has taught tens of thousands of students during his three-decade career at UCSC; now, he's making an impact in a new way.
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  • John FoxJohn Fox
    It all started with a bad walk. In 1995, John Fox took a tour at Año Nuevo State Park, home to the first mainland breeding colony of northern elephant seals.
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  • Kathryn SullivanKathryn Sullivan
    Alumna Kathryn Sullivan—the first American woman to walk in space and the first to reach the ocean’s deepest depths—is furthering her impact by making a planned gift to help with student research.
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  • Cassi JanakosCassi Janakos
    Alumna Cassi Janakos, co-founder of a company offering corporate lactation programs, created an endowment for the UC Santa Cruz Feminist Studies Department with the aim of empowering other women as leaders and innovators.
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  • Rusty and Barry BowmanRusty and Barry Bowman
    For nearly 40 years Emma Jean and Barry Bowman built our understanding of a part the cell called the vacuole. Now the retired researcher and emeritus professor...
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  • Ernesto Ruiz and James McHenryErnesto Ruiz and James McHenry
    After a lifetime of service in the education field, alumnus Ernesto Ruiz pays it forward to help future students...
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  • Linda PetersonLinda Peterson
    Linda Peterson’s (Stevenson '70, history) distinguished corporate law career took her to many locales around the country, but her passion for UC Santa Cruz has kept her close to campus and eternally tied to the university.
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  • Jim Myers and Joe LevesqueJim Myers and Joe Levesque
    Alumnus Jim Myers and husband Joe Levesque are using their life's work to offer opportunities to worthy students, establishing five endowed funds for scholarships at UC Santa Cruz through their trust.
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  • Lisa Rose, Jim Lapsley, and Susan NertonLisa Rose, Jim Lapsley, and Susan Nerton
    Three Crown College alums—Lisa Rose, Jim Lapsley, and Susan Nerton—banded together to organize Crown's 50th reunion during Alumni Week in April 2022. When asked what it felt like to see their organizing come to life...
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  • Raquel AriasRaquel Arias
    Raquel Arias' planned gift will go to a UC Santa Cruz program that was pivotal in her life.
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  • Mary WellsMary Wells
    Retiree Mary Wells has added the Silver Slug Award and UCSC Fund to her estate plan, a future gift that will support staff and their dependents who seek UC Santa Cruz degrees.
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  • Kai EnderleinKai Enderlein
    Kaj Enderlein reached a turning point one afternoon in 1996 while making dinner at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems...
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