University Communications

“Universities are more actively pursuing technology transfer, in part because we are required to under our sponsored-research agreements, and also because we recognize that commercialization is an effective way to add value to our discoveries and to get the benefits to the public,” Neighbour says. “We also see the potential value to the faculty and to the university in providing alternative revenue streams to support the research enterprise.” Since 2001, the campus is seeing an increase in the numbers of inventions reported, patents and licenses issued and start-up companies created around technologies invented at UCLA. Total licensing revenues have reached $8.4 million per year.

FACULTY MEMBERS HAVE PLAYED A KEY ROLE in the success of Campaign UCLA. Their contribution is most readily seen in the area of programs and research, where the goal has already been exceeded. More than $777 million has been raised in this category, much of it directly by faculty members. In addition, the campaign has provided funding to establish 78 of UCLA’s 188 endowed chairs, each representing a gift of at least $500,000 to support the activities of a distinguished professor. A centuries-old academic tradition, endowed chairs are vital tools for faculty recruitment and retention.

Graduate-student support is an area in which UCLA is losing ground relative to its private peer institutions like Harvard and Stanford. Therefore, fund-raising for this purpose is among the highest priorities of Campaign UCLA and an important avenue to increasing competitiveness. Unfortunately, it is a hard sell to potential donors who may not have received a terminal degree such as a Ph.D.

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