[California] UC Berkeley gets $15 million for poverty center

from Inside Bay Area

University of California Regent and San Francisco financier Richard C. Blum has donated $15 million to create a research and education center at UC Berkeley dedicated to fighting global poverty.

The Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies will begin offering courses in the fall. The center will focus on developing sustainable solutions to poverty. Almost 3 billion people around the globe live on less than $2 a day.

Former President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama and former Secretary of State George Schultz — all close friends of Blum's — have agreed to serve as honorary trustees on the center's governing board, according to a university news release.

Blum, who is married to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, has been working against global poverty for 30 years, the release said. He is founder of The American Himalayan Foundation, which brings schools, health services, forest restoration and other services to the Himalayan region.

"I believe UC Berkeley can have a singular effect in the fight to alleviate human suffering," Blum said in a statement. "If you look at the dangerous political divisions in today's world, you will find that most extremism has its roots in poverty and lack of education. We hope that our center will help train the next generation of leaders to be dedicated to alleviating poverty in the developing world."

Blum's donation includes a $5 million challenge grant.

Blum, a UC Berkeley alumnus, founded Blum Capital Partners, LP in 1975 and is co-founder of Newbridge Capital. He is chairman of the board of CB Richard Ellis, Inc. and was appointed to UC's governing Board of Regents in 2002 by then-Gov. Gray Davis.