Corona del Mar’s Samuelis donate record $200 million to UCI to establish health sciences college

UC Irvine officials Monday announced the university’s largest gift ever — a $200-million donation from Corona del Mar philanthropists Susan and Henry Samueli that will establish a health sciences college in their name.

The grant is the seventh-largest gift to a single public university.

The Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences will focus on integrated health, defined by university officials as a healthcare approach that incorporates conventional medicine, complementary and alternative medicines and “self-care,” which emphasizes evidence-based behavioral and nutritional approaches that promote wellness.

Officials said UCI will house the first such integrative health facility on a university campus.

“Despite our technological advances, too many people still suffer from chronic conditions such as pain, diabetes and heart disease or are caught in a cycle of taking too many medications,” Susan Samueli, who has championed integrative health, said in a statement. “We must change what we mean by ‘healthcare’ and how we train all who provide care, including physicians, nurses and pharmacists.”

Henry Samueli, 62, co-founded Broadcom, an Irvine-based designer and developer of semiconductors. As of this month, Forbes magazine pegged his net worth at $3.9 billion.

The Samuelis co-own the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League.

The couple also have donated to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, where a small-stage performance venue, the Samueli Theater, is named in their honor.

Of the $200-million gift to UCI, $55 million will go toward new technology and labs and building a new campus facility at California and Bison avenues to house the College of Health Sciences.

The remaining $145 million will establish an endowment for training and mentoring for medical school students, scholarships, fellowships, research projects and more.

The endowment also will provide continuing support for the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine, which is being renamed the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute. The center was established in 2001 with a $5.7-million gift from the Samuelis, who earlier this year also donated $30 million to UCI for a convergent sciences building.

Before Monday’s announcement, the couple had donated some $70 million to UCI over the years.

Campus officials said the existing Integrative Health Institute and the Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing, as well as the medical, pharmacy and public health schools, will incorporate into the College of Health Sciences.

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