UC Riverside’s School of Medicine receives a transformative planned gift from The Fred and Barbara Havens Trust

Glenn DeHart ’78 ’84, dedicated his teaching career to helping young students — from elementary school through high school, and from the United States and beyond — succeed. Now, he is taking that dedication a step further to help Highlanders in need.

Derick and Jennifer Brinkerhoff believe in building the knowledge and voices of future generations through education. Now, the pair can support that belief even beyond their lifetimes through their two planned gifts to the University of California, Riverside.

Barbara Kerr, a UCR graduate from the class of 1968 who went on to become president of the California Teachers Association, has generously given a planned gift in the form of a bequest that will gift 30 percent of her estate to the university.

$139,000 planned gift from Charlotte Bringle Clarke will support students in UCR’s College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

It was on a deserted South Dakota highway that the two small figures came into view. “Hitchhikers,” said Charles Talbert, as he turned to his wife Kathy. “What do you think?”

The William O’Connor Student Award for Academic Excellence will support talented students transferring to UCR from a community college.

Michael and Annette Scarpino Sechrest Endowed Scholarship Fund will benefit medical students who plan to practice in the region.

UC Riverside’s herbarium, established over 60 years ago, is an irreplaceable library of plant specimens. It is in need of repair and reorganization, and as with many campus resources, faced an uncertain future as a result of the global pandemic. Thanks to a $900k bequest from its founder Frank Vasek and his wife Maxine, this resource will continue to be available to many generations of future plant scientists. 

As the author of “The Rise and Fall of American Technology,” UCR alumnus Lynn Gref deeply understood that educational accessibility would be key for the innovation of future generations. “This fact that I see a decline in technology in America is what drives me to try and reverse it and get people interested in [technology],” the first-generation college student said in a 2013 UCR Alumni Association interview.

She was carefree and confident. She dressed as she pleased, often in clothing from far-flung continents. She wore her hair in a long, white braid or coiled atop her head with combs, adorned with accessories from her many travels. Eccentric in the best way, Loda Mae Davis was special. And she had a distinctive way of making others feel special too.