Fostering Educational Excellence
The Irvine Company and the Donald Bren Foundation have long been instrumental in fostering educational excellence on The Irvine Ranch®, where K-12 public schools are consistently ranked among the finest in the state. In addition, Mr. Bren is a major supporter of the University of California who has helped establish and strengthen programs in such diverse fields as computer science, business, environmental science, medicine, law and the arts.
The Irvine Company and the Foundation collectively have donated more than $200 million to public schools on the Ranch and to institutions of higher education—supporting students, teachers, principals, individual schools, school districts, universities and university scholars.
Gifts include major contributions to local K-12 schools for enrichment programs, after-school programs for low-income children and scholarship awards. Mr. Bren has also funded more than 50 endowed chairs for distinguished faculty at institutions for higher learning—primarily at UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara. In fact, he has contributed more to support endowed chairs than any other single donor in the University of California’s history. In 2004, he received the UC Presidential Medal, the highest honor awarded to individuals by the University of California.
To learn more about how the Irvine Company and Mr. Bren support education, go to www.donald-bren.com/education.