UC San Diego Raises $470 Million During Last Fiscal Year

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• Jade Griffin - [email protected]

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• Philanthropy and Giving

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The University of California San Diego raised $470 million during fiscal year 2025-26, including $458.5 million in private support and $11.5 million in additional Advancement-led commitments. More than 20,000 alumni, donors and partners came together to advance research, faculty excellence and new opportunities for students at a critical moment for higher education.

"UC San Diego continues to make a difference as one of the world's top research universities thanks to the remarkable generosity of the community of supporters who share our vision for making the world a better place," said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. "Across UC San Diego, philanthropic support is accelerating discoveries and opportunities with the potential to improve lives, from advancing human health and developing emerging technologies to supporting student success and attracting and retaining leading faculty."

Philanthropy has taken on added importance as universities nationwide navigate uncertainty surrounding federal research funding. Throughout the year the UC San Diego community stepped forward with timely and flexible gifts, grants and other commitments to help protect the continuity of UC San Diego's research enterprise. Their support helped research teams maintain momentum, retain talented investigators and continue pursuing promising discoveries despite an evolving federal funding landscape.

Cross-campus Impact

During the last fiscal year, donors and partners made incredible impact on areas ranging from the arts to medicine, and from student support to endowed faculty chairs. Significant commitments this fiscal year included:

• UC San Diego established the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing with $50 million in support from alumnus Taner Halıcıoğlu '96, which adds to his prior support of $75 million in 2017 for data science.
• Sandra Timmons '81 and Richard Sandstrom '72, PhD '79, pledged $30 million to support graduate fellowships, undergraduate scholarships and endowed faculty chairs.
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography received a $15 million grant from the Fund for Science and Technology (FFST) to expand observational capabilities into parts of the ocean where data has historically been sparse or nonexistent.
• Price Philanthropies awarded $10 million to establish the UC San Diego Health East Campus Behavioral Health Hub. The investment will help expand access to critically needed mental health services across the region.
• A $5 million endowed gift from alumnus Robert Koenigsberger '87 and his wife Dilek is advancing academic research and education in financial markets and investing.
• Joseph and Honmai Goodman provided $5 million for the Center for the Future of Surgery, with funds designated to support leadership, training and emerging technologies in the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
• A $5 million gift was given to support innovative research and treatment for debilitating spinal cord and neurological injuries, supporting the new Spinal Therapeutics, Engineering, Limb and Life Advancement (STELLA) Initiative.
• Prebys Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and W. M. Keck Foundation each made separate awards totaling more than $5 million with the goal of enabling UC San Diego researchers to continue promising research in the face of research cuts.
• Alumnus Robert J. Glushko, Ph.D. '79 and Pamela Samuelson provided $4 million in funding for four endowed faculty chairs: The Robert J. Glushko '79 Chair in Sensemaking and Organizing, The David Rumelhart Chair in Cognitive Science, The Don Norman Chair in Cognitive Science and The Jay McClelland Chair in Cognitive Science.
• Richard Merkin, MD, who established the Merkin Graduate Fellows Program in 2022, renewed his support of the program, which opens doors for UC San Diego graduate students to connect their research to the wider world.
• The acclaimed Stuart Collection received donations totaling $1 million from Irwin Jacobs and Jill and Peter Kraus to support the Emerging Artists Program.

Alumni Support Builds Momentum Across Campus

UC San Diego alumni played a significant role in supporting the university's success this year, collectively giving more than $100 million to support priorities across campus. The generosity of alumni helped support the establishment of a new school, the creation of multiple endowed faculty chairs, groundbreaking research, student scholarships and fellowships, and the Triton Alumni and Welcome Center, which will open in fall 2026. Part of the larger Triton Center project at the heart of campus, the Triton Alumni and Welcome Center will serve as a gathering place for alumni to return to their alma mater and further their impact as Tritons.

The entire UC San Diego community came together for Triton Giving Day in April 2026 to make a record-breaking 4,055 gifts totaling more than $1.1 million. The results represented a 65.1% increase in dollars raised for the annual day of giving compared with the previous year. Alumni accounted for 1,175 donors and more than half a million dollars raised, with participation fueled by more than $85,000 in matches and challenges created by alumni to inspire their fellow alumni to give. Donations made as part of Triton Giving Day made a difference in wide-ranging areas - from supporting students' basic needs to ensuring continuity of research and discovery despite gaps in federal funding.

To learn more about the impact of philanthropic support at UC San Diego, please visit giving.ucsd.edu.

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