Major Gifts

Daniel and Kathy Anderson

Santa Barbara Bank & Trust Community President Dan Anderson and his wife, Kathy, committed $300,000 through their estate plan to establish the first endowed professorship in finance.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from California State University, Northridge (1983) and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Irvine.

Anderson has remained active within the Cal State Northridge community, having participated as a guest speaker for both the MBA and undergraduate programs, as a board member on the College of Business and Economics Partners Program, a Business Honors Case Competition judge, and coordinator of the Conejo Valley Alumni Association.

Sandra and Donald Bostrom

Sandra Bostrom, music and computer science faculty member and her husband, Donald, both alumni, have created a legacy for three separate endowments.  The Bostroms’ bequest specifies that $150,000 from their estate will be divided equally between the Sandra Bostrom-Aguado Music Therapy Endowment; the Sandra Bostrom-Aguado Computer Science Scholarship Endowment, and the Donald E. Bostrom Electrical and Computer Engineering Scholarship Endowment.

The Bostroms previously established the Lola Sadlo Aguado Endowment in Music Therapy, honoring Sandra’s mother, who also taught at the university.  In addition to the standing endowment, for more than 10 years, the Bostroms have created and supported two additional scholarships awarded annually to music therapy students, reflecting the family’s philosophy that sharing with others has always meant that “we must give to the now as well as the future.”

Jim and Mary Gorman

Jim and Mary Gorman have donated a total of $210,000 to the university to support the Jim and Mary Gorman Athletic Scholarship Endowment.  A Jim and Mary Gorman Athletic Scholarship will be awarded annually to a student athlete with a grade point average of 3.2 or higher during the prior two semesters.  A preference will be given to members of the university’s tennis team, which holds a soft spot in the Gormans’ hearts.  The first scholarship will be awarded in 2007.

The Gormans’ interest in sports at Cal State Northridge started with volleyball, but spread to tennis a couple of years later when Jim retired and took up the sport himself.  Now their passion for Matador sports encompasses all teams.  The Gormans’ endowment is funded in part with gifts of cash and appreciated securities and partly with two charitable gift annuities that they have created through the university.

Ginny Mancini

Ginny Mancini, wife of the late composer/conductor/arranger Henry Mancini, has committed a $250,000 gift to the Imagine the Arts Campaign, and the center’s orchestra pit will carry the name of her famous late husband. 

Ginny Mancini is a long-time supporter of the area arts community.  She was previously president and one of the founding members of the Henry Mancini Institute and chairman, past president, and co-founder of the Society of Singers.  She is a trustee of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, secretary of the Geffen Playhouse, governor of the UCLA Foundation and a vice president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Board.

Rex and Rie Mitchell

Rex and Rie Mitchell, chairs of the educational psychology and counseling department and the management department, respectively, and their son, Scott, established the Mitchell Family Endowment Fund and named the Mitchell Family Counseling Clinic in the Michael D. Eisner College of Education.  The income from the endowment will fund in perpetuity the operating costs of the counseling services and the clinical training opportunities provided by the Eisner College of Education.

The clinic houses the college’s family counseling services for communities in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.

James Ring

James Ring, an alumnus of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, made a $300,000 gift for the James H. Ring Professorship in Urban Studies and Planning.  Previously, he established the James H. Ring Urban Studies Scholarship Endowment.  He is a current member of the Urban Studies Alumni Council for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and a former member of the college’s Dean’s Council.

A principal at Ring Financial, Inc., he is on the Cal State Northridge Foundation board of directors and also serves on the Executive Committee of the Imagine the Arts Campaign for the university’s new performing arts center. 

Richard W. Smith

Richard Smith, the university’s 1991-92 Professor of the Year and two-time Distinguished Faculty Award winner, established the Richard W. Smith Endowment for Cultural Studies.  The endowment will support activities in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and promote the study of non-Western culture, including the Richard W. Smith Professor in Cultural Studies; the Richard W. Smith Lecture in Cultural Studies, and the Richard W. Smith Student Award in Cultural Studies.

According to Smith, the bequest of his Northridge property will enable scholarship to delve into “cultures very different from ours.”