Supporters of the University of California, Davis, showed their spirit in a big way in 1995-96, setting a new campus record for private fund raising. Nearly $60 million new dollars will go toward scholarships, research endowments, faculty chairs, enhanced laboratories and libraries, and other vital educational purposes. Last year, the campus raised $41.5 million in private funds. "This year's record-high level of giving is tribute indeed to the extraordinary effort of many faculty and staff and to the enduring generosity of our alumni and friends," said UC Davis Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef. "Their investment of time and resources will benefit the Davis campus for years to come." Corporate giving made up 61 percent of the total, helped significantly by the largest corporate gift in campus history -- a $17.4 million in-kind donation of software and licenses to the College of Engineering's electrical and computer engineering department from Mentor Graphics, producer of complex engineering design software. Gifts from alumni also multiplied in 1995-96, increasing 159 percent from $1.7 million in 1994-95 to more than $4.4 million. Numerous campus boosters also showed their support in the form of bequests made and trusts established for the benefit of future students and faculty members. During 1995-96, the campus realized bequests totaling nearly $1.8 million and received commitments in the form of bequests amounting to almost $2.2 million. Seven new trusts benefiting the university were established, and two existing trusts enhanced, for a total of more than $2 million. Engineering quintuples support Thanks primarily to the unprecedented Mentor Graphics gift, the College of Engineering achieved the largest year-to-year increase in private support, nearly quintupling from $5.1 million a year ago to over $25.2 million in 1995-96. The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences had a 24 percent jump in private support to more than $12.4 million. The School of Law set a new record as well by raising $562,756, nearly twice its previous highest total in 1991-92. More than $1 million per unit was raised by the Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources and the departments of entomology, nutrition, internal medicine, and electrical and computer engineering. In addition, more than $400,000 in donations went to each of the following units: food science and technology, hematology/oncology, mechanical and aeronautical engineering, orthopaedics, plant pathology, political science, viticulture and enology, wildlife and fisheries biology, the California Regional Primate Research Center and the California Center for Equine Health. Endowment leaps forward The campus's endowment grew by $9.3 million in new gifts. Meanwhile, the systemwide General Endowment Pool clocked in with a 1995-96 annual return of 21.7 percent, including a common stock fund which significantly outperformed Standard & Poor's 500 index. Endowments to support specific faculty positions are considered by deans and other campus leaders to be an invaluable part of UC Davis' efforts to attract and retain a world-class academic and research faculty by providing support for their research, lab supplies, graduate assistants and travel. Endowed chairs and professorships created in 1995-96 include: • The Evert and Marion Schlinger Chair in Insect Systematics -- The Schlingers' gift of $1 million will fund a chair dedicated to the study of the classification, biology and evolution of insects (areas critical to pest management), in the entomology department of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. • The Child Family Professorship -- Through a generous gift from Mike and Renee Child (both 1976 graduates), the College of Engineering will establish an endowed professorship for a faculty member whose interests include the relationship between engineering and entrepreneurship. • The Rice Professorship -- This professorship, endowed by the California Rice Research Board, will provide a permanent source of funding for weed-control research in rice and related cropping systems, with much of the work taking place at the Rice Experiment Station at Biggs. When fully funded at $750,000, the Rice Professorship will be one of the most generously endowed positions in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. • The Paul R. Lipscomb and Phyllis O. Lipscomb Orthopaedic Research Professorship -- The Lipscomb gift by charitable remainder trust will establish this professorship in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery to enhance the research efforts of the department's orthopaedic laboratories. Campaign highlights Over the past year, a number of major fund-raising campaigns were completed and several new ones launched. One of the campus's highest-profile campaigns, Students First, concluded in June 1996 with $16.37 million raised, $1 million over its goal. The College of Engineering's Silver Anniversary Campaign for Excellence drew generous donations from alumni, faculty and staff. The bulk of its $54.5 million total, however, came from corporations, including TRW, PG&E and Rockwell International, that enjoy technical relationships with college faculty and hire many of the college's graduates. Gifts-in-kind of computers, printers, software and other products came from Hewlett-Packard, Mentor Graphics, Synopsys, Digital Electric Corp., MRL Industries and Intel. The $31.8 million Life Sciences expansion of Briggs Hall will be supplemented by a $3 million capital campaign for the purchase of state-of-the-art laboratory equipment. According to division Dean Mark McNamee, the campaign comes at a key juncture when biotechnology companies are increasing their presence in the Central Valley. Bodega Marine Laboratory is completing a private fund-raising campaign to supplement $4.5 million in voter-approved bond money. The campaign will support improvements and expansion of the existing research and teaching facilities, as well as the enhancement of public access to the lab's aquaria and tidepools. The campaign is more than halfway to its $1 million goal. Harry E. Jacob Viticulture Research Facility has been developed by the Department of Viticulture and Enology to provide a critical foundation of knowledge on such topics as crop management, irrigation, pest control and wine-making styles. The department's $2.4 million campaign to build a state-of-the-art research facility in Oakville was launched by the $500,000 gift of Wendell Jacob in memory of his father, UC Davis viticulturist Harry Jacob. The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and its alumni are actively engaged in a $1 million campaign to build an 18,000-square-foot facility devoted to teaching, research and outreach related to agricultural equipment. The facility will be called the Western Center for Agricultural Equipment. Industry leaders including the Far West Equipment Dealers Association and New Holland Inc. have been instrumental in supporting the campaign. The Robert Arneson Chair in Ceramic Sculpture was launched to honor the internationally acclaimed artist, widely regarded as the father of the Funk Art movement, who taught ceramic sculpture at UC Davis for more than 30 years. To date, approximately $200,000 has been raised in a $300,000 fund-raising campaign. Foremost among planned future fundraising efforts are a campuswide campaign focused on increasing the number of endowed chairs and professorships, a major new campaign to build a campus Center for the Arts, and a campaign to create a world-class environmental research institute at Lake Tahoe.