About the UCSF Foundation

UCSF excels in research, education, and patient care because of its people. But it’s not only our scientists, physicians, and students. It’s also the fundraisers who help donors give to causes that are important to them, the volunteer board members who give generously of their time, and the staff members who support both of these groups.

Our Work

The University of California, San Francisco Foundation and its volunteer Board of Directors support UCSF’s core mission of advancing health worldwide by raising money for the University.

Gifts from private donors keep UCSF among the top health sciences universities in the world by helping us attract and retain the best students and faculty members, make groundbreaking discoveries, and deliver compassionate care.

In fiscal year 2023, 35,938 generous donors gave a total of $631.9 million  to the UCSF Foundation.

The UCSF Foundation:

  • encourages and manages donations from alumni, friends, companies, and foundations to all of UCSF’s schools.

  • ensures that gifts are used in strict accordance with donors' wishes.

  • manages donated assets through the not-for-profit UCSF Foundation Investment Company.

  • administers gifts through UCSF’s Office of University Development and Alumni Relations, which handles communication with donors.

 

UCSF Board of Directors

2023 UCSF Board of Directors

Philip Hammarskjold, Chair
Dana Emery, Vice Chair
Andrew Ballard
Allison Bhusri
Susan Bloch
Pete Briger
Todd Carter
Huifen Chan
Connie E. Chen
Fred Cohen
JP Conte
Phyllis Coulter
Dipanjan Deb
Stephanie DiMarco
Dana Emery
Kathryn Hall
Kenneth Hao
Andre Iguodala
Richard Kimball
Nellie Levchin
Divesh Makan
Meyer Malka
Ian McKinnon
Diane Morris
Joyce Newstat 
Ruchi Sanghvi
Lydia Shorenstein
Shahan Soghikian

Distinguished Directors

Barbara Bass Bakar
William H. Davidow
William S. Fisher
Sameer Gandhi
Carl Kawaja 
George Marcus
Carmen Policy  
Jaclyn Safier

Lifetime Directors

Lynne Benioff
Brook H. Byers
Doris F. Fisher
William E. Oberndorf
Joan Weill
Diane B. Wilsey

Founding Chair
Ellen Magnin Newman, Lifetime Director
 
Foundation President
Sam Hawgood, Chancellor
 
Foundation Vice President
Erin Hickey, Vice Chancellor of University Development and Alumni Relations
 
UCSF Foundation Investment Company

David Harkins, President
Kathryn Hall, Board of Directors Chair 

Committee Chairs

Rick Kimball: Audit, Compliance, and Risk Management Committee Chair
Dana Emery: Development Committee Chair
Joyce Newstat: External Affairs Committee Chair
Andrew Ballard: Finance Committee Chair
DJ Deb: Nominating and Governance Committee Chair
Fred Cohen/Catherine Lucey: Student and Faculty Committee Co-Chairs
Todd Carter: Real Estate Committee Chair

UCSF Foundation Officers

Sam Hawgood, MBBS, President

Sam Hawgood, MBBS, is the chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco and president of the UCSF Foundation. He previously served as dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs. In addition to his distinguished career at UCSF, where he also was chair of the Department of Pediatrics and associate director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute, Chancellor Hawgood has an international reputation in neonatology research.

Erin Hickey, Vice President

As the head of University Development, Ms. Hickey designs and directs fundraising strategies in support of­­­ the entire University, including UCSF’s hospitals and clinical and research programs.

Ms. Hickey has extensive experience creating and ­managing strategies that have secured multiple seven-, eight- and nine-figure commitments from some of the most notable donors in philanthropy. Since 2016, Hickey served as assistant vice chancellor of development for children's health at UCSF, where she helped accelerate fundraising for programs and research for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. Under Ms. Hickey's direction, the children’s health enterprise increased its annual fundraising revenue by more than 20%. In that role, she was one of the executives on the team that managed UCSF: The Campaign, the largest capital campaign in the University’s history, which raised $6.2 billion, surpassing its goal by almost 24 percent. She was appointed vice chancellor in 2021.

Ms. Hickey joined UCSF in 2007 as the lead consultant and campaign manager for the $500+ million fundraising campaign for the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. Prior to her role with UCSF, she worked as a consultant with CCS, the largest fundraising consulting firm in the country. Ms. Hickey earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon.

Paul Velaski, Secretary

Mr. Velaski is chief financial officer of UCSF Foundation, executive director of Gift Policy, and Accounting and secretary of the UCSF Foundation. He oversees acceptance, accounting, and reporting of all gifts made to UCSF through the foundation and ensures that policies related to gifts are up to date and in compliance. He has more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit accounting, development, and investment management for large national and international organizations. Mr. Velaski also serves as a staff liaison to the foundation’s audit committee and is a certified public accountant licensed in California.

Gardner Trimble, Assistant Secretary

Mr. Trimble is executive director of Gift and Endowment Planning in the Office of University Development and Alumni Relations and assistant secretary of the UCSF Foundation. He oversees planned giving within the development office and the UCSF Foundation. In addition, he currently serves as an interim member of the foundation’s Investment Committee and Audit Committee.

Erin S. Gore, Treasurer

Erin S. Gore, MPA, serves as the senior vice chancellor of Finance and Administration at UCSF, where she directs and facilitates highly complex initiatives and engagements to advance health locally, regionally, nationally, and globally since February 2022.

She is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years of experience in financial strategy at Fortune 100 Companies and top ten universities. Prior to joining UCSF, Gore was the executive vice president of Growth Initiatives, Strategy and Communications with Wells Fargo Bank. She led in the areas of strategic planning and modeling, public relations, policy development, capital planning, change management, crisis communications, and financial and treasury management. Her expert knowledge of financial management and administration was grounded in leadership principles and experiences gained as the associate vice chancellor and chief finance officer for the University of California, Berkeley. There, she specialized in operating budget development and implementation, capital project planning and budgeting, debt financing and treasury responsibilities, sponsored research administration, and general administration in collaboration with faculty, staff, students, deans, administrators, and Regents.

An Oakland native, Gore earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs and her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is an active member in her community and dedicates her expertise to multiple deserving boards and non-profit organizations.

Joseph Calger, Assistant Treasurer

Mr. Calger is the associate vice chancellor of Central Development Services. He serves as the chief operating officer for the Office of University Development and Alumni Relations, providing leadership to the budget and operations, gift and endowment policy and accounting, prospect development, gift administration, annual giving, and information systems and technology areas. Mr. Calger has more than 30 years of experience in advancement services at major private and public universities and health care organizations.