In fall 1975, Virginia Jansen arrived at UC Santa Cruz as an assistant professor to teach medieval art and architecture for the Art Department (or Art Board, as it was then known). At that time, the university had no freestanding program in art history. Virginia helped to build the program over a long UC Santa Cruz career and became a Professor of History of Art and Visual Culture. Virginia retired in 2006 and is now a Professor Emerita.

Virginia and her husband George have included UC Santa Cruz as the largest beneficiary of their estate. The most substantial portion of their gift will support the McHenry Library collections in ancient and medieval architecture as well as history, art history, and architectural history. Virginia said they are really happy to know their future gift will make a difference for the library that dutifully and reliably supported her research for over 35 years.

The Jansen's have also included a provision to support Cowell College. Virginia taught a course titled Campus Planning and Architecture, which focused on understanding the Santa Cruz campus and campus planning and architecture in general. In addition to teaching about the UCSC campus plan, Professor Jansen served for 20 years on committees that oversaw the development of the campus.

While the University had been aware that it was part of the Jansen's estate plans, the degree of Virginia and George's philanthropic commitment was a huge surprise. What enables a UCSC professor to make such a gift? Virginia says, "We would not be able to give back to the university in this way, had we not been turning around every dime twice for a lifetime. We also don't know how much of it we may have to spend on care at a later point in life."

The daughter of a surgeon, Virginia does not pale when having to think about the end of this life. In her mind it is just a part of life and she is very content that she has dealt with the material aspects of it while she is here to indulge in the joy of giving.