Record-Breaking Donations Open Opportunities

SUN graduate student Jordan Blaine Rose recently took trips to California’s White Mountain Research Center and the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab with students from the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, using drone imagery and other research methods to study the effects of recent wildfires on water quality in McGee Creek in the eastern Sierras.

The creek flows into Lake Crowley, which serves as a reservoir for the Owens River, part of the watershed essential to humans, plants and animals in the Los Angeles region. The research experience reaffirmed Rose’s commitment to studying the effects of recent wildfires on water quality.

“Field study sparked my thesis idea and allowed me to ask undergraduates to follow along in similar research for their own senior projects,” said Rose, who is working toward a Master of Science in Geographic Information Science. “There’s been lots of excitement for this field work, and for us to be able to take it back to academia and understand how it all ties together.”

Such experiences are invaluable in the education of students, said Regan Maas, chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences.

“You can show pictures all day long and students will get the fundamentals, but until they’re actually knee-deep in hip waders, down in the water, they’re not going to get the same impact,” she said.

It’s the kind of world-expanding experience — along with travel to academic conferences and other experiential learning projects — that are only possible for some students through philanthropic support.

Every department in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences recently benefited from the largest gift in the college’s history — a $10 million gift from alumnus Shepard Goodman ’64 (Business Administration) in memory of his wife, Ronni ’66 (History). That gift was part of an unprecedented influx of philanthropic support for the university, with donors providing more than $125 million in just a nine-month span.

That includes the largest gift in CSUN’s history — $63 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott — as well as $20 million from alumnus and Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost ’87 (Mechanical Engineering), Hon.D. ’24 for the Andrew J. Anagnost College of Engineering and Computer Science. In the fiscal year starting July 1, 2025, CSUN already has eclipsed its best fundraising year of $72 million raised in 2020-21. These gifts greatly deepen and expand the learning opportunities available to students.

The university is strategically leveraging Scott’s investment to multiply its impact, using these funds to attract additional philanthropic partnerships and create transformative initiatives that reach beyond even this extraordinary gift. Scott also invested $40 million in CSUN in 2021 and those funds made an indelible mark on campus, providing key funding for the Autodesk Technology Engagement Center and CSUN’s enhanced basic needs suite, known as the Valera NEST. Scott’s initial donation also provided funds for visiting professorships and nearly $1 million for initiatives including affordable housing for formerly incarcerated students in Project Rebound.

“The extraordinary support CSUN continues to receive reflects growing momentum and confidence in our mission,” said CSUN President Erika D. Beck. “These investments in scholarships, experiential learning and cutting-edge facilities will transform student experiences for generations to come. What’s equally exciting is that this generosity is inspiring others to invest in our students’ futures, creating a multiplier effect that reaches even more students and expands opportunity across our campus.”

The Goodmans’ gift to Social and Behavioral Sciences is already benefiting students, said Dean Yan Searcy. Searcy initially distributed over $250,000 to the college’s 10 departments and to the Master of Arts in Sustainability program. The Goodmans’ gift will enable the college to provide student scholarships and support student travel, faculty research and educational innovations.

“For the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, this gift is phenomenal,” Searcy said. “This gift recognizes the vital role our disciplines play in addressing society’s most pressing challenges. It centers people. It centers students who are tasked with addressing global social change.”

In honor of the gift, this spring CSUN renamed Maple Hall, its newest academic classroom building, to Ronni and Shepard Goodman Hall.

“In tribute to the life and legacy of my wife, Ronni, I am honored to continue championing the causes most important to her and to us,” Shepard Goodman said. “We experienced firsthand the power of education to transform lives, and it’s an honor to help CSUN students achieve their dreams.”

Rose, the graduate student, who was accepted into the summer 2026 U.S. Geological Survey’s Future Leaders in Observation of Water (FLOW) Academy, thanked CSUN donors for prioritizing meaningful student opportunities at a time when higher education and research are increasingly underfunded.

“To future donors, I would say ‘thank you’ — for investing not only in students today, but in the knowledge, innovation and societal progress that depend on them tomorrow,” he said.