Endowed chairs, one of the highest honors in academia, allow universities to retain and recruit the best minds in each generation. The UC Davis Cancer Center's Capital and Endowment Initiative is turning to the community to help endow eight chairs, the first at UC Davis that will focus on cancer research.
Endowments are sought to support top scientists in the following areas of cancer research. Endowments range from $1.5 to $3 million.
- Basic Science Endowed Chair
- Clinical Research Endowed Chair
- Prostate Cancer Endowed Chair
- Breast Cancer Endowed Chair
- Lung Cancer Endowed Chair
- Pediatric Cancer Endowed Chair
- Cancer Genetics Endowment
- Cancer Immunology Endowment
Pledges to date
Commitments have been made to fund two of the chairs:
- The Auburn Community Cancer Endowment Fund, a grassroots group based in Auburn, has raised $1.3 million toward the Basic Science Endowed Chair. In addition to the more than $300,000 raised through the Jim Otto golf tournaments, Jim Otto and his wife, Sally, already generous supporters of the Cancer Center, have also pledged $75,000 to support the endowment. The chair will be named after the whole community.
- The South Placer Breast Cancer Endowment, taking Auburn's lead, has announced plans to fund the Breast Cancer Chair by 2010 (see story, page 34).
Research endowments are invested to fund a designated research area in perpetuity. Chair holders draw from the interest generated by the endowment to hire research assistants, pay for travel to scientific meetings or cover other research needs.
For information about contributing to an endowed chair, please contact Stephanie Bray at (916) 734-9675 or stephanie.bray@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu.
