University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

MEDIA RELEASE

Valley Leaders David and Jean Fleming Pledge $1 Million for Performing Arts

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Dec. 10, 2007) — Attorney and civic leader David Fleming and his wife, Jean, have pledged $1 million toward the construction of a new Center for Performing Arts at California State University, Northridge.

The contribution is one of the largest for Cal State Northridge’s proposed 1,700-seat, $125 million performing arts center project due to begin construction in 2008 and be completed by 2010. In recognition of their generosity, the grand staircase in the main lobby of the performance hall will be named the "Jean and David Fleming Grand Staircase."

"David and Jean Fleming are longtime friends and benefactors of California State University, Northridge," said CSUN President Jolene Koester. "Their generous gift reflects their strong support for the effort to create a vibrant performing arts center that enriches the cultural life of the San Fernando Valley and greater Southern California region."

David Fleming, an attorney with the law firm Latham and Watkins, is a prominent leader in the San Fernando Valley and the city of Los Angeles as a whole. His activities include serving as chairman of the board of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, representing the city of Los Angeles as a director of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority as well as serving as chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

His wife, Jean, is a motion picture producer and screenwriter. She recently produced and co-wrote a full-length docudrama dealing with medical marijuana and the drug war. Jean Fleming began her career as a motion picture and television actress after being chosen as Miss Illinois in the Miss America Pageant in the 1960s. She appeared in several movies and television shows in the 1960s and 1970s under the screen name of Jean Blake. Jean Fleming devotes much of her time to charity work and civic causes as well as helping young people get a foothold in the film industry.

The Flemings have also been longtime supporters of Cal State Northridge, with David Fleming serving as a member of the CSUN Foundation Board of Directors and an advisor to San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center in the College of Business and Economics.

David Fleming also has taken a leadership role with CSUN’s "Imagine the Arts" campaign to build the new performing arts center, serving as vice chairman of the campaign’s executive committee since is plans were announced in early 2005.

"The Center for the Performing Arts at California State University, Northridge will be the realization of a long-held dream for the San Fernando Valley and the surrounding region," Fleming said. "Jean and I consider it a privilege to participate in this visionary campaign and look forward to being there when the doors of this grand hall open for the first time."

The new Performing Arts Center will be located on the southwest corner of the campus near the corner of Nordhoff Street and Lindley Avenue and will serve as a cultural and economic landmark for the Valley. It will include sophisticated features such as the ability to acoustically tune its main performance hall to fit particular presentations, whether they are music, dance, theater, films or speakers. The performance hall also will be large enough to accommodate full-scale Broadway productions and operas.

Upon its opening, the Performing Arts Center at Cal State Northridge will be the largest arts venue in the San Fernando Valley and adjoining Valleys. It also will serve as a major arts education center for local students and the community.

Other large gifts to the "Imagine the Arts" campaign for the new center include a $5 million pledge from Curb Records Chairman/former California Lt. Governor Mike Curb, a CSUN alumnus; a $2-million contribution from Los Angeles County through the leadership of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky; and $2 million from the late Clyde Porter, a San Fernando Valley arts pioneer and philanthropist.

California State University, Northridge has 35,200 full- and part-time students and offers 62 bachelor’s and 50 master’s degrees as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. The university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the Valley and beyond.