Giving to MCDB

MCDB Giving Priorities

Faculty, Research, and Facilities

The excellence of the Department depends on gifts that support Symposia and Distinguished Lecture Series, Endowed Faculty Chairs, Postdoctoral Fellowships, research equipment, renovation or replacement of facilities, and named Buildings and Laboratories.

At the heart of MCDB is its distinguished faculty. Our internationally recognized faculty members draw the finest graduate students to the school, enhance our educational programs, provide service to the community, and disseminate their extraordinary knowledge throughout society. You can help make a difference with:

Endowed Chairs

Endowed Chairs honor, encourage, and support the professors whose brilliant minds and commitment to education and research promote the University's mission. An endowed chair is the most significant honor the University can offer to faculty, by way of a donor's generosity. Holders of endowed chairs represent the most distinguished scholars who are selected for brilliant scholarship, inspirational teaching, and leadership. An endowed chair is a permanent endowment created by a philanthropic gift that supports the teaching and research of the scholar. A gift of $500,000 or more will support the creation of a new endowed chair and will provide a legacy for the donor on the UC Santa Barbara campus.

Established Endowed Chairs

We are deeply grateful for the following established funds.

The John Carbon Chair in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Established through a generous gift from the Amgen Foundation. The Chair honors UC Santa Barbara Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, John Carbon, and his seminal contributions to science and UC Santa Barbara. Amgen and UC Santa Barbara have mutually benefited from a long partnership that began with the founding of Amgen and John Carbon's role as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board. The extraordinarily prestigious endowed chair will be used to recruit a truly stellar biomolecular scientist. The John Carbon Endowed Chair holder will play a central role in shaping the future of molecular education at UC Santa Barbara.

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Postdoctoral Fellowships provide outstanding young scientists with the chance to work in collaboration with MCDB faculty and obtain additional training and experience. Postdoctoral experience is extremely helpful for developing the careers of young scientists. Help support a postdoctoral fellow through gifts to support research equipment and supplies, stipends, and research travel.

Named Full-Year Post-Doc Award

A gift of $50,000 or more fully supports a post-doc for one year of their career.

Lecture Series

Lecture series provide the Department with the opportunity to bring internationally recognized scholars to UC Santa Barbara. The visiting scholars are invited to participate with faculty and students within the Department through a formal lecture presented to the campus and local community, presentations in undergraduate and graduate level classes, and informal, small group discussions. Lecture series enable the Department to provide an exceptional learning environment for students that augments the general curriculum while raising the profile of the Department by attracting preeminent scholars in a particular field. These lectures are made possible by the generosity of our donors and the funds allow us to attract distinguished scholars to our campus and to maximize the impact of their visit to UC Santa Barbara.

Named Endowed Lecture Series

A gift of $20,000 or more establishes a permanent named lecture that can occur annually.

Named Lecture

A gift of $5,000 will support the expenses related to one lecture and can be named for the generosity of the donor.

Capital Naming Opportunities

MCDB is grateful for all charitable gifts, and honors leading donors who provide major support for student, faculty, programmatic, and capital needs. One significant way to pay tribute to our most generous supporters is to name the benefited program or facility for the donor. Your generous gift to support MCDB research and education can be commemorated by naming a building, laboratory, lecture hall, or facility in your or a loved one's honor. There are many naming opportunities in MCDB, including naming the new Life Sciences Building.

Research Support

If you wish to support a specific research program within MCDB, including Stem Cell Research, Alzheimer's Disease Research, Cancer Research, Macular Degeneration Research, Plant Molecular Biology, Kidney Disease Research, Developmental Biology, Neurobiology, Microbiology, or the research of a particular faculty member, please contact specify in your donation.

Graduate Students

Support graduate education and the future research capabilities of our State and Nation with gifts for graduate fellowships, research travel, research supplies and equipment and attendance at symposia.

The strength of a university department is often evaluated on the quality of its students and the research in which they are engaged. Our ability to recruit and retain the very best graduate scholars is essential to the success of MCDB. Graduate fellowship support is among the highest priorities for funding in the Department as it enables us to compete with the very best universities in the Nation to recruit and retain top scholars.

Named Endowed Fellowships

A gift of $200,000 or more establishes a permanent named fellowship.

Named Quarter Fellowships

A gift of $10,000 will fully support a graduate student for one-quarter of their career. This type of fellowship is extremely helpful for graduate students as it allows them to take a quarter off from teaching and focus solely on their research and dissertation.

Named Full-Year Fellowships

A gift of $50,000 or more fully supports a graduate student for one-year of their career.

Named Fellowship Awards

A gift of $5,000 or more establishes a one-year named award which allows the Department to offer supplemental incentive (top-off) support for the recruitment or retention of an outstanding graduate student.

Established Named Graduate Awards in MCDB

We are grateful for the following established named funds for graduates in MCDB. Additional donations to these established awards are deeply appreciated and allow us to support and honor more highly deserving students.

The Amgen Fellowship

Established by the generosity of Amgen, Inc. to assist in the continuance of outstanding doctoral students within the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology graduate program.

The Carbon-Clarke Graduate Student Fellowship Fund

Established to help support graduate education at the UC Santa Barbara campus. The annual earnings of this endowment are used for fellowship support of highly qualified graduate students enrolled in a Ph.D. graduate programs in Biochemistry-Molecular Biology at UC Santa Barbara. These students are working either toward the Ph.D. degree in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Molecular and Cellular Biology, or the Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry-Molecular Biology in the Interdepartmental Biochemistry-Molecular Biology Program.

The Chang Fund for Graduate Students in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Created through the generosity of Shing and Sheng-Yung Chang, who are alumni of UC Santa Barbara's Biochemistry and Molecular Biology graduate programs. The Changs established this fund to benefit and recognize Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Program graduate students at UC Santa Barbara by providing flexible funding to enhance their career development opportunities.

The Otto J. Holmok Cancer Research Fellowship

Funded by the generosity of the Estate of Otto Julius Holmok for the purpose of supporting an outstanding doctoral student conducting human cancer research in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology.

The Rathmann Fellowship

Established to support the top incoming doctoral student in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. This fellowship is funded by the friends of George and Joy Rathmann.

The Charles A. Storke II Graduate Fellowship Award

Initiated in 1996 through the generosity of Charles A. Storke II, former associate-editor and publisher of the Santa Barbara News-Press, whose family has had a long association with UC Santa Barbara. Part of a much larger commitment to the university, this fellowship fund is intended to help bolster the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology by providing support for its promising doctoral students.

Undergraduate Students

Help insure that the next generation of leaders receives the best training and education possible by supporting student fellowships, awards, summer research internships or undergraduate teaching laboratories.

Education is at the core of our mission. Your support of our undergraduate students and programs is critical for our ability to educate the next generation of leaders. Help us build a better future for all.

Undergraduate Teaching Labs and Equipment

Laboratory experience is crucial in the learning experience and to the future success of students. It helps them apply what they have learned and gain the skills needed to secure jobs or attend graduate or medical school. We are in need of teaching laboratory equipment to replace outdated and nonfunctional classroom instruments including microscopes, spectrophotometers, flurometers, PCR machines, laboratory stools, teaching lab computers, computer projectors, centrifuges and much more. Your generous gift can replace an instrument, and outfit or renovate a whole laboratory classroom. Your gift of equipment will support student learning for many years into the future.

The Jean M. Devlin Initiative in Molecular Biology and Pharmacology

MCDB is seeking funds to establish an endowment and name the pharmacology-molecular biology teaching laboratory the Jean Devlin Laboratory, in honor of Jean Devlin, who before her untimely death served as laboratory coordinator in our department.

Named Endowed Scholarships

Undergraduate scholarship support allows the Department to recognize outstanding undergraduate students for their excellence in course work and research. A gift of $20,000 or more establishes a permanent named scholarship.

Established Awards

We are deeply grateful for the following established named funds for undergraduates in MCDB. Additional donations to these established awards are deeply appreciated and allow us to support and honor more highly deserving students.

The Jean Devlin Memorial Awards in Pharmacology

The Jean M. Devlin Endowment in Molecular Biology and Pharmacology was established by a group of Pharmacology alumni to honor the legacy of Jean Devlin. This endowment provides undergraduate and graduate student support and funding to help equip and supply state of the art teaching facilities for Pharmacology.

The Robert L. Sinsheimer Award

Awarded to a graduating senior in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) with the highest academic performance in the core courses of the specialized MCDB majors, through the generosity of Professor Robert Sinsheimer, a distinguished biochemist and molecular biologist and former University of California Chancellor.

Unrestricted Gifts

Your unrestricted gift provides the Department with flexibility to support the highest priority needs.

Unrestricted gifts to the Department are designated to the highest priority needs by the Department Chair. This flexible funding allows the Department to seize new opportunities that emerge as well as support existing outstanding students, faculty, programs and research. Unrestricted gifts can:

• Create top-notch learning programs for undergraduates
• Support and reward the research endeavors of our very best students
• Facilitate cutting edge research efforts that move both science and society forward
• Attract and hire the most competitively recruited scientists at every stage of their careers
• Support the best and brightest graduate students in their pursuit of a Ph.D. degree
• Bring distinguished lecturers to the Department to the benefit of both faculty and students
• Outfit and equip laboratories where faculty and students of all levels can interact

At the heart of any great institution are the people whose vision and talent define it. In the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology we seek funding that will enable us to attract and retain world-class scholars and the most promising students.