Billionaire Bren Funds UC-Irvine Program

The University of California, Irvine, has set its sights on an ambitious goal: to become one of the most distinguished research and teaching universities in the United States. Last month, thanks to the generosity of Orange County real estate developer Donald Leroy Bren, UCI took a giant step toward meeting that goal. At a July 18 news conference, the school announced a $1 million contribution from Bren, which, together with his gift of $1.5 million last August, will serve as the founding capital for the Bren Fellows Program, a series of up to 25 new faculty chairs, initially in the natural sciences and medicine. UCI also announced that Francisco J. Ayala, of the university's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has been named the first Bren Fellow, as well as the director of the Bren Fellows Program. That appointment will be supported by Bren's gift last August, whereas his new contribution will go for the appointment of an as-yet-unnamed second Bren Fellow. "The Bren Fellows will be among the university's most prestigious faculty positions," UCI Chancellor Jack Peltason said at the press conference. "They will serve to further the highest level of scholarly endeavor and support our goal of becoming one of the top research universities in the nation." The Bren Fellows Program has been designed somewhat along the lines of the Senior Fellows Program at Harvard University. The school plans to recruit the best senior and junior scientists for this program, both from its own faculty and from other universities. It is hoped that they will help carry UCI to the first rank of research universities by the turn of the century. "The secret of building a great university is no secret: You get the brightest people you can and put them together," Peltason said. The offers from UCI will likely be quite tempting for a number of reasons. One is that, within the University of California system, funds from an endowed professorship go not to underwrite salaries and administration, which the individual university carries, but rather for research. Another is the opportunity for stimulating, interdisciplinary exchange with other Bren Fellows, another goal of the program. "This is certainly an extraordinary gift," says Ayala, noting that the scope of the program makes it particularly unusual. The great number of new professorships will be made possible by an agreement that Bren concluded with the University of California Board of Regents in mid-June. In 1964 the Irvine Company, of which Bren is chairman, sold some 510 acres to UCI. It was stipulated that this land, which is adjacent to the academic campus of the university, could not be developed. Now Bren has amended that agreement to allow for certain types of commercial and industrial development. Under the new terms, the school will be permitted to seek out academically related private business, such as high-tech companies, to occupy up to 2 million square feet of office or light industrial space. Irvine Company officials have estimated that when fully developed, the annual rental income to UCI will be between $7 million and $12 million. All of the income from this development will go to the Donald Bren Endowment, which will exclusively fund the Bren Fellows Program. Bren, 56, controls about 64,000 prime acres-much of it the former Irvine Ranch-in Southern California's Orange County. His real estate holdings constitute one sixth of the land in one of the fastest growing counties of the U.S. In a recent survey, Forbes ranked Bren as the 16th richest person in the nation, with a net worth of $1.9 billion. In recent years, Bren has taken an increasing interest in UCI. "I am enormously pleased that a person of [Ayala's] stature and ability will be directing the Bren Fellows Program," Bren said at the press conference. "And I hope my gift today will accelerate the growth and maturing of this activity that is so important to the long-term strength of UCI." David Pendlebury is an analyst in the corporate research department at The Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia.

Billionaire Bren Funds UC-Irvine Program

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