Impacts of Giving

Gordon and Betty Irene Moore, founders of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Susanna Frohman, San Jose Mercury News) 

Philanthropy was central to the founding of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. UC Davis established the new school through a $100 million philanthropic commitment from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the largest contribution nationwide in support of nursing education.

University leaders formally dedicated the school in October 2010. It bears the name of Betty Irene Moore, a philanthropist who with her husband established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in 2000. Gordon Moore is most widely recognized for co-founding Intel Corporation and for his theory, known as Moore’s Law, which drives the semiconductor industry. 

The Moores are advocates for improving patient safety and health-care delivery. Because of personal experiences, Betty Moore decided she wanted to create a school of nursing charged with transforming health systems and education. The foundation selected UC Davis among leading candidate universities because of its excellence in the sciences, its long-standing tradition of interdisciplinary, collaborative education and its entrepreneurial spirit.

“We commend the commitment and generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to launch this school in partnership with the University of California,” said Heather M. Young, associate vice chancellor for nursing at UC Davis and founding dean of the school. “Nurses are an essential part of the solution to the health-care crisis, and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing is an essential part of the solution to the looming health-care needs of California.”

“UC Davis and the Foundation share a vision to face our nation’s health care problems by integrating the best of health care and scientific practices with multiple disciplines in higher education for nurses."
 
—Steven J. McCormick, president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation 

The school welcomed its inaugural classes—master’s-degree and doctoral students in Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership—in the fall of 2010. At full enrollment, the school is projected to enroll approximately 456 students each year. The doctoral program prepares graduates as faculty educators and researchers and to lead health systems. The master’s-degree program prepares nursing faculty for community college—where they are greatly needed—and for health-care leadership roles in a variety of organizations.

“UC Davis and the Foundation share a vision to face our nation’s health care problems by integrating the best of health care and scientific practices with multiple disciplines in higher education for nurses,” said Steven J. McCormick, president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. 

The historic $100 million commitment will fund the school’s start-up costs. During the next decade, however, the school must build philanthropic endowments to ensure its excellence and sustainability far into the future.

“A mix of public funding and philanthropic support from other donors—including individuals, foundations and corporations—will be required to realize the school’s long-term vision,” Young said.