Donors Pony Up $22 Million For UC Merced

Private donors have given the new University of California, Merced more than $22 million in gifts and grants, the university announced today.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is the largest single donor at more than $12 million. The E&J Gallo Winery is the biggest corporate benefactor, with $5 million to begin a business school to be named after the winery founders Ernest and Julio Gallo.

“For U.C. Merced to receive this level of giving from individuals, private industry and foundations before the main campus opens is extraordinary and overwhelming,” said Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey. “The generosity of supporters of U.C. Merced and the San Joaquin Valley speaks to their strong desire to help make this campus a reality.”

Construction has begun on the first phase of the campus, with students expected at the 10th University of California campus in 2004.