7 minute read
Philanthropy
BUSINESS COMMUNITY SUPPORTS BUSINESS EDUCATION Building the Future for UCR Business
Beverly and Scott Bailey’s $1 million pledge to the School of Business will help create and maintain a new complex for professional development and community engagement
Beverly Bailey knows a thing or two about building things.
As a student at Riverside City College, she helped her boyfriend, Scott, hang patio covers on the weekends. When she turned 20, she bought and ran a small café in Chino, putting her entrepreneurial spirit to the test as she worked some of the longest days of her life. Then, she earned her real estate license, making a living helping people build their dream homes.
She married Scott, and for the past 30 years, they’ve expanded Stronghold Engineering, a company they started from their kitchen table that is now one of the premier general contracting firms in Southern California; it is ranked among the top 10 minority- and women-owned construction companies in the nation and was recognized by the Women’s Presidents’ Organization as one of the 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies.
Their recent $1 million pledge to UC Riverside helps build a bright future for the university’s School of Business: The endowed gift will provide buildingmaintenance funds for the new business school complex.
“The designation of this gift is to support the maintenance operations of the new school [building]. Being in construction, I have seen facilities fall into disrepair because maintenance costs were never thought about or factored in,” says Beverly. “We envision a state-of-the art facility that will feed the minds of potential hungry entrepreneurs and be a catalyst for relevant, local, and international business education.”
Beverly’s success as president and CEO of Stronghold has garnered her top awards: the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Inland Empire in 2000, the 2016 Enterprising Woman of the Year Award, 2020 American Heart Association Legendary Women of the Heart, 2020 Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year Award, and most recently, the 2021 Construction Leader of the Year Award at the Women in Energy Leadership Summit. Currently serving as both a UCR Foundation trustee and outgoing chair for the School of Business Dean’s Advisory Council, Beverly was also a School of Business executive fellow, and along with Scott, established the Executive Fellows Endowed Scholarship Fund.
“The school is full of gratitude, and we’re honored to be a friend and partner of Beverly Bailey,” says Yunzeng Wang, dean of the UCR School of Business. “Her recent expression of generosity is very exciting and will help build momentum in support of the new state-of-the-art facility.” ‒ By Sarah Nightingale16
The Bailey family includes, from left, Brandon, Alyssa, Beverly, Scott, and Kyler.
A Family Tradition, a Community Connection
Provident Savings Bank CEO and Chairman Craig Blunden ’72 establishes a foundation that supports the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management
Craig Blunden ’72, Provident Savings Bank CEO and chairman of the board
Craig Blunden grew up in a family that believed in community involvement.
His mother helped launch nonprofits in Riverside, and in 1956, his father started a savings and loan that would grow into Provident Bank. Fourteen years later, UC Riverside established the graduate program that would become the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management. Among its first graduates in 1972: Craig Blunden.
The connection to UCR was just beginning.
In 1985, following the family tradition of community service, Blunden was appointed to the UCR Foundation Board, where he gained an appreciation for the needs of the university.
“I really learned a lot in those 14 years that I was on that board,” says Blunden, who is now Provident’s CEO and chairman of the board. “I ended up starting a foundation here at the bank, the Provident Charitable Foundation, and using that to give to the community in a number of ways. One of the gifts was to the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management.”
That gift in 1994 established the Gordon A. Blunden/Provident Savings Bank Endowed Business Scholarship, named for his father to honor his service to the community. Although the elder Blunden passed away in 1996, the connection to UCR continued to grow. Provident has sponsored the school’s Inland Empire Economic Forecast Conference since its beginning more than a dozen years ago. Craig Blunden currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council and previously served as an executive fellow.
“Being a fellow was a wonderful experience. It was a chance for me to sit with the students, hold office hours, answer their questions and really continue my own learning,” he says.
Blunden is proud of UCR’s involvement in the community and how it provides opportunities for students to make their own contributions.
“When I start to think about philanthropy, it really evolves as a process as you grow up,” he says. “It just makes you feel great when you see people being successful and able to help others in the community.” — By Darin Estep
Leader In Orchid Business Helps Students Bloom
The most recent endowed award established by Jamie Fang ’90 supports School of Business transfer students
Jamie Fang ’90, center, established endowed funds to support School of Business students. She is pictured with Judy Su and Jamie’s father, Charley Fang.
Jamie Fang ’90 was still paying for her own business administration education when she started her first endowed fund for School of Business graduate students. As she became a leader in the orchid business, her growing support enabled more students to bloom at UCR.
At the time of her first endowment— the Charley Chen-Hui and Hsi-Mei Fang Award Endowed Fund, named for her parents—Fang was not long out of college and still building her businesses.
“I decided we could all afford something, even if we save $100 occasionally from going out to eat,” she says. “I wanted to give back to the school, the foundation of my education that led to my life’s work.” Fang modestly describes that first endowment as “not a great amount,” which nonetheless led to a personal relationship with school leadership. That has continued through the years, and Fang has met with every dean of the School of Business since 2005. Her most recent gift created the Jamie Chen-Kuei Fang Endowed Award to support undergraduate business majors in the School of Business, particularly for incoming transfer students and those from a Southern California community college.
Although semi-retired, Fang remains active in the floral industry. And she is just as passionate about helping students achieve academic success through decreasing their financial burden.
Her focus on long-term planning is part of the reason she directs her philanthropy toward student support.
“We have to be sure the next generation is educated,” she says. “These kids are so appreciative. That really hits home with me.” — By Darin Estep
Three Business Leaders Establish Scholarships and Endowed Funds for Business Students
High-tech Industry Veteran Looks to the Future
Having served on the UCR Foundation’s board of trustees since 2014, alumna Susan Atherton ’77 established the Susan Atherton Endowed Graduate Award Fund, and she has a genuine interest in the students whose lives are changed with a business education.
Riverside Entrepreneur Helps Students Understand Business
The co-founder and executive vice president of SolarMax Technology Inc., Ching Liu, supports students through the SolarMax Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund and is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council, a UCR Foundation trustee, and former executive fellow.
Investing in Causes that Matter
Investment expert Patricia Watters ’95, co-founder of Catalina Consulting Partners, established the Patricia A. Watters and Richard K. Lashbrook Endowed Student Award. She served as an executive fellow at UCR’s School of Business and is deeply committed to the success of students and alumni.
Learn more about these business leaders at business.ucr.edu/whm2021.
A Generous Donor Network
Through an increase in giving over the last several years, the UCR School of Business continues to champion community and alumni engagement to strengthen its ability to support students and faculty. We are extraordinarily grateful and thank our network of generous donors. Donor contributions have propelled innovation in the classroom, securing endowed and current-use funding to support new teaching methods and innovative tools and technologies:
20%
increase in alumni participation through annual giving, aiding students impacted by COVID-19, and increasing scholarships
increase in student scholarship awards since 2017
49%
DRIVING EXCELLENCE
$150,000
James Merino Innovation Award Fund
$75,000
Dean’s Innovation Fund
$200,000
Hylander Student Investment Fund
To support the UCR School of Business, please visit business.ucr.edu/giving.
