IRVINE : Executive Tapped to Chair Foundation
Western Digital Corp. Chief Executive Roger Johnson has been tapped to serve a fourth year as chairman of the UCI Foundation, UC Irvine’s primary fund-raising organization, university officials announced.
Other officers named to the not-for-profit foundation’s board of directors include: Gary Hunt, Irvine Co. executive vice president; Kathryn Thompson, developer; Thomas Yuen, former co-chairman of AST Research Inc. in Irvine; Richard P. Hausman, real estate investment company owner; Eric Nelson, pharmaceutical research consultant, and Paul Frederic Marx, a senior partner in Rutan & Tucker law firm office in Costa Mesa.
The UCI Foundation, which is responsible for raising private funds to help support the university’s education, research and public service missions, merged recently with the university’s College of Medicine Foundation.
Johnson, who was first elected to head the original UCI Foundation in February, 1989, said private support is essential for the university’s future.
“Raising private funds for UCI always has been a key element in accelerating and extending the university’s thrust to world-class status,” said Johnson, a native of Hartford, Conn., who joined Western Digital in 1982.
But donations have been slower in coming in recent months as the economic recession has deepened. Total contributions of $22.1 million for the 1990-91 fiscal year were down nearly 20% from the previous year.
