The impact of human population growth and the issues it raises will be the focus of future research and teaching programs at the University of California, Davis, thanks to a $1 million trust established by John P. Gifford. The trust creates the John P. Gifford and Mary Louise Gifford Endowed Fund, a gift that eventually will establish the John P. Gifford Center for Population Issues in the campus College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. While the endowment will not be available for a number of years, Gifford currently is supporting a new distinguished lecture program named in his honor that will bring respected scholars in the field of human population studies to campus. He hopes that the visiting lecturers will help nurture collaboration in human population research and lay the groundwork for developing the center. "We are very excited to create this framework for both study and action on population issues," said Gifford, an Oakland resident. "We have great faith in UC Davis' ability to not only perform high-quality research, but also to use that newly developed information to help society." According to Barbara Schneeman, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the welcome gift will make possible a premier center for population studies. The trust for the interdisciplinary Gifford Center will support administration and staffing as well as scholarship and fellowship funding for students interested in human population studies. Additional support will be provided for publication and distribution of educational materials.