UCI receives $6.6M gift

The family foundation of Don Beall, a longtime benefactor of UC Irvine, has given a $6.6-million endowment gift to the university’s Paul Merage School of Business, campus officials announced Friday.

The funds, which will go toward expanding programs and launching new ones, are earmarked for the school’s Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Assistant Dean Donna Mumford said Beall’s gift was the second-largest that the Merage School had ever received — after the $30-million contribution from businessman Paul Merage, the school’s new namesake, in March 2005.

“We had been in discussion with Don and his family for some time about his interest in the center, so it wasn’t a complete surprise, but we’re obviously so delighted,” Mumford said.

She added that UCI would receive the money over time, but would not say how large the increments were. Later this year, she said, the campus would likely hold a ceremony to honor Beall and his family.

Beall, the former chief executive officer of Rockwell International Corp., has contributed to the Merage School, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts and a number of other institutions at UCI. His latest gift, he said, will allow the university’s business school to synthesize research from around the world. One of the planned programs under the gift is an “open source” forum in which innovations from a number of global companies would be posted on the Merage School’s website.

“UCI plays such an incredible role in the well-being and the economic development of Orange County and the region, and for this region to reach its full potential, UCI has to reach its full potential,” Beall said. “They’re a long way along that journey, and we’re able to provide a little help and anxious to do so.”