(Credit: Kevin Ulrich/UC Davis)

Record generosity: $38.5 million for UC Davis vision science
The UC Davis Health System today (March 10) announced receiving $38.5 million in gifts and pledges from Ernest E. Tschannen to support the UC Davis Eye Center and the Center for Vision Science. These gifts make Tschannen the largest individual donor to UC Davis in the university’s 108-year history. (source)

Ernest Tschannen, a philanthropist, + Real Estate Investor and immigrant who amassed a fortune in real estate in the U.S., noticed in 2000 that his eyesight was failing, so he visited an eye clinic at the University of California at Davis, and later underwent successful surgery. In gratitude, he donated $25 to the university. But in addition to being a soft-spoken engineer, Tschannen proved to have a gift for investing. He made millions of dollars buying real estate (though he continued to live in a modest apartment even after becoming wealthy). So he was later able to give UC Davis $1.5 million so it could hire an optic-nerve specialist. And then in 2016, the 91-year-old donated $37 million so the university could unite all of its eye programs—which treat 55,000 local patients annually—in one new facility. (source)

“Throughout the course of our business together Scott has always proven to be a man of the utmost integrity and professionalism, on par with the those I trust and respect most.”

Ernest Tschannen, Real estate investor and philanthropist. Ernest’s record gift of $38.5 million is the largest individual donation to UC Davis in the university’s 108-year history.

(Credit: Sacramento State/Andrea Price)

The Sacramento State community gathered May 1 for a celebration as big as the generosity of its honoree. Just outside the building that bears his name, Sacramento philanthropist and Sac State supporter Ernest E. Tschannen was feted and serenaded during a campus celebration of his 100th birthday. Tschannen has donated more than $20 million to Sac State, including $9 million to help construct the Tschannen Science Complex, which opened in 2019.

(Credit: Sacramento State/Andrea Price)