Sacramento couple gives $100M to UOP
Modesto Bee 5/8/07
The gift is the largest in the private university's history and one of the biggestever donations to a college. Thirty-two other colleges, six in California, have received donations of $100 million or more, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The contribution establishes the Robert C. and Jeannette Powell Fund. The $100 million is an estate donation, meaning the university does not have access to the funds until the Powells, both 75, die. They don't have children, UOP officials said.
"We are so pleased to announce this magnificent gift that will have an enormous effect on Pacific today and in perpetuity," said UOP President Don DeRosa. "Bob and Jeannette have been longtime supporters of Pacific and education in general."
UOP officials still are working with the Powells to determine which programs the money will support, but both sides favor earmarking a significant portion for student financial aid.
Annual tuition at UOP is about $27,000, and students pay thousands more for textbooks as well as room and board. About 80 percent of the university's 6,250 students receive some form of financial aid or assistance, said spokesman Patrick Giblin.
"I think it's an absolutely amazing feat that they would donate something so large to this university," said Joshua Foster, a junior majoring in economics who also is the student body president. "It's great that they want to help students from all economic levels and identities. We want to recruit from all 50 states. I'm from Nebraska, and I wouldn't be here without financial aid."
Robert Powell is a Northern California commercial and housing developer. He created Gold River, a planned community along the American River, and the Pavilions shopping center on Fair Oaks Boulevard, both in Sacramento.
Jeannette Powell is an interior designer who's won numerous awards. They live in Sacramento and San Francisco.
The Powells are very private, which is why they did not attend the news conference and reception Monday, sending their friends Ed and Joan Westgate in their place. The Westgates introduced the Powells to Pacific.
Ed Westgate read a statement from the Powells:
"We are so proud of our association with this fine university and are excited to make this gift to ensure an even brighter future for University of the Pacific and its current and future students.
"The university has made tremendous progress in … raising the quality of academic programs and providing access for talented students."
UOP officials offered few details about the Powells, but did say neither attended UOP. Robert Powell served on Pacific's 30-member Board of Regents from 1989 to 1993. Jeanette Powell was appointed in 1999 and is still a member of the board.
The Powells have donated to UOP in the past, but some gifts have not been made public. The couple did give $1.5 million in 2000 to help build an art center named after Jeannette Powell.
UOP has three campuses and an annual budget of about $285 million. The university is known for its dentistry, pharmacy and teaching programs as well as its relationship with the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.
The largest higher education donation in 40 years was $1 billion — in 1999 to the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, through several colleges, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and in 2006 from the Anil Agarwal Foundation to Vedanta University in India.
In California, only Stanford, the University of Southern California, the California Institute of Technology and the University of California campuses at Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco have received gifts of $100 million or more.