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Educational excellence is the hallmark of schools on The Irvine Ranch® and a principal reason
people choose to live here. The Irvine Company and the Bren Foundation are proud to join an
active and involved community that enthusiastically supports educational excellence and
enrichment.
Investing in Education
The Irvine Company and the Donald Bren Foundation have a long history of
consistent, generous and passionate support of education in the school districts
located on The Irvine Ranch, schools that are consistently ranked among the finest
in the state. They have invested more than $200 million supporting students,
teachers, principals, individual schools, school districts, universities and
university scholars on The Irvine Ranch. Further, The Irvine Company's
innovative education philanthropy, public policy initiatives and comprehensive
planning have helped create and sustain some of the most successful and highly
recognized school districts in the State of California.
Student Leadership Awards
The Irvine Company
This awards program recognizes high school students in the Irvine, Newport-Mesa, Orange,
Tustin and Laguna Beach school districts who demonstrate outstanding leadership skills and
the potential to make a difference in our community. Thirty-two high school seniors compete
for $120,000 in scholarship grants.
Teacher of the Year Awards
The Irvine Company
These awards honor teachers throughout Irvine and Tustin school districts. The $7,500 Teacher of
Excellence Award is presented to teachers for creating academically nurturing environments and
demonstrating educational excellence.
ArtsBridge Grant
Donald Bren Foundation
A $1,000,000 grant supports art enrichment classes and projects in K-12 schools on The Irvine Ranch.
This grant has been earmarked to help imaginations soar.
Exploring Ecosystems at Limestone Canyon · The Outdoor Classroom
Each year, hundreds of seventh-graders from Santiago Charter Middle School
in Orange participate in "Exploring Ecosystems at Limestone Canyon."
Co-sponsored by The Irvine Company, The Nature Conservancy, UC Irvine, the
Orange County Department of Education, and the middle school, lessons are
brought to life for students through a fun, field study program. The goal
of developing the program was to not only educate students about different
ecosystems, but to also inform students, schools and the community about the
important resources on The Irvine Ranch.
Commitment to Higher Education
In the early 1960s The Irvine Company contributed 1,000 acres of land to the University of California
for the creation of the UC Irvine campus. In subsequent years, the company has continued to invest
in higher education, providing land and/or cash gifts to UCI, Irvine Valley College and
Santiago Canyon College.
University of California, Irvine: the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences:
In December 2003, Donald Bren, chairman of The Irvine Company, donated $20 million to UC
Irvine's computer sciences school, equaling the largest gift ever to the university.
In recognition of the gift, the university renamed the school - the first of its kind in the
UC system - the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. The school's new six-story research and classroom facility, named Bren Hall, opened June 2007. The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences is the first
independent Computer Science School within the UC System and one of the fastest-growing
programs of its kind in the nation.
For more information on the renaming of the school, please click here.
For information on the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at UC Irvine, please visit http://www.ics.uci.edu/.
University of California Bren Professor Endowments:
Starting with an initial gift in 1988, the Bren Foundation has now created more than 20 perpetual
endowments for distinguished Bren Professors at the University of California. These are lasting
legacies to attract and keep foremost scholars and support the genius and creativity of academians
and researchers who are making significant contributions to our local communities and society at large.
Their impact will benefit generations to come.
University of California, Irvine: Claire Trevor School of the Arts
In late 2000 the School of the Arts at UCI was officially named Claire Trevor School of the Arts
in recognition of the late Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning actress' accomplishments and
contributions in her honor from the Claire Trevor Foundation and the Bren Foundation and members
of the Bren family.
These major gifts will assist the School of the Arts as it continues to develop into a nationally
renowned center for learning and creative production in the arts. The gift will also create four
permanent endowments to attract retain and support the work of distinguished professors.
For more information about the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UCI, please visit
http://www.arts.uci.edu/.
The Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
The Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management was made possible by a generous
contribution to UC Santa Barbara by the Donald Bren Foundation. This gift supports the school
with funding for distinguished Bren Professors as well as faculty scholars, visiting lecturers
and conferences.
Because environmental issues arise in political, legal and business arenas, The Donald Bren
School of Environmental Science and Management positions its studies from a multi-disciplinary
approach involving input and perspectives from the natural and social sciences and the law and
policy disciplines.
The intent of this program is to bring these fields together to address complex environmental
issues from different angles as well as approach environmental matters with a better understanding
of the political, legal and business points of view.
For more information please visit http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/
Chapman University:
In October 1999, the Bren Foundation endowed a chair in business and Economics at Chapman University.
Dr. James Doti, president of Chapman University, is the first holder of this chair.
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