UC Davis has created a new society that honors some of the university's leading donors.

The inaugural group of the Chancellor's Laureates comprises 226 individuals and organizations who have been the leadership donors to UC Davis, with each Laureate cumulatively donating $1 million or more to university programs.

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef says each of the laureates has made a significant impact on society through their support of UC Davis in fulfilling its public mission. Vanderhoef cited Robert and Margrit Mondavi as exemplars of the laureates, calling them visionaries and "true friends" of the university for their support of the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.

'Reaped the benefits'

Margrit Mondavi described why she and her husband support UC Davis. "Our philosophy regarding wine, food, and the arts — how the appreciation and enjoyment of these contribute to a long, healthy and satisfying life — is very much aligned with the university's historical strengths in agriculture, and in viticulture and enology," Mondavi said. "For many years, we reaped the benefits of the university's presence in Northern California, and now we have the great joy of giving back to this very fine institution."

Two of the laureates are 1971 graduate Maurice J. Gallagher and his wife Marcia, whose recent donation of $10 million to the Graduate School of Management for facility and program support is the largest gift from a UC Davis graduate.

A portion of the gift will help fund the school's new three-story building, which will be named Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. Hall. The new facility, to be completed in 2009, will have state-of-the-art technological equipment and is expected to increase the standing of the internationally ranked UC Davis Graduate School of Management among the elite MBA programs in the nation.

The largest gift to UC Davis is represented by a laureate organization — the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The foundation's contribution of $100 million to found the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing is also one of the largest gifts to the University of California system.

The new school, to be located on the Sacramento campus, will foster nursing excellence through an expansive educational model that incorporates scientific rigor and immersive, inter-professional education for its students. It is founded on a vision that highly skilled and well-prepared nurses can help our national health-care system by assuring patient safety, improving quality of care and health outcomes, guiding policy decisions, and discovering knowledge to advance health.

The newly created laureates group includes alumni, parents and friends from across the country. It honors Wayne and Jacque Bartholomew (both are 1964 graduates, and Wayne received his law degree in 1971), David and Dolly Fiddyment, Barbara Jackson and her late husband, Professor W. Turrentine Jackson, Hal and Carol Sconyers (graduates of 1952 and 2004), and the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians.

'Visionary philanthropy'

The UC Davis Foundation has honored the laureates as part of its active leadership role on behalf of the university.

Meg Stallard, 1968 alumna and the chair of the UC Davis Foundation board, emphasized the generosity of the laureates in joining with the university to meet its public mission: "This visionary philanthropy has been given by people, foundations and organizations who understand the value of higher education, appreciate the important role it plays in society, and believe in the university's mission of public service."

Ryanne Holbrook is a University Communications intern.