UC DAVIS ACCEPTS $12.5 MILLION GIFT
UC Davis says it has accepted a gift of more than $12.5 million from Louise Rossi’s estate to the campus’s winemaking and grape growing program. The “landmark” gift was one of the largest donations ever made to UC Davis and represents the Rossi family's proceeds from the sale of their 52-acre ranch earlier this year, according to a press release.
The money will be used to establish a continuous source of funding for high-priority research projects focused on improving sustainable production practices and enhancing the flavor of grapes and wine.
To accomplish those goals in the near term, the gift will finance the purchase of equipment in the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. The first phase of the Robert Mondavi Institute is scheduled for completion in June 2008. The Department of Viticulture and Enology also plans to establish one or more endowed chairs, named in honor of Louise Rossi and her brother Ray Rossi, to support faculty positions focused on winemaking and grape growing.
"Louise Rossi and her family so typified the sprit of California agriculture," said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "We at UC Davis are quite humbled to be the recipients of their quiet generosity and the beneficiaries of their many decades of hard work."
Louise Rossi oversaw the Rossi family vineyard operations and its accounts until her death in February at age 99. She and her brother Ray, a UC Davis alumnus who died in 1997 at age 91, have been longtime supporters of UC Davis through the Rossi Prize. They established the prize in 1979 to benefit viticulture and enology students from the Napa Valley, and to honor the memories of their parents, Fred and Rachel Rossi, and their brother, Arthur Rossi.
Before her death, Louise Rossi had made plans for the family ranch to be sold to Frog's Leap Winery. John Williams, owner and winemaker of Frog's Leap nearby in Rutherford, and a UC Davis alumnus, was a longtime friend. Frog's Leap, established in 1981, uses only organically grown grapes and traditional winemaking techniques.
To read more background on the donation and the Rossi family, click here.
The money will be used to establish a continuous source of funding for high-priority research projects focused on improving sustainable production practices and enhancing the flavor of grapes and wine.
To accomplish those goals in the near term, the gift will finance the purchase of equipment in the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. The first phase of the Robert Mondavi Institute is scheduled for completion in June 2008. The Department of Viticulture and Enology also plans to establish one or more endowed chairs, named in honor of Louise Rossi and her brother Ray Rossi, to support faculty positions focused on winemaking and grape growing.
"Louise Rossi and her family so typified the sprit of California agriculture," said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "We at UC Davis are quite humbled to be the recipients of their quiet generosity and the beneficiaries of their many decades of hard work."
Louise Rossi oversaw the Rossi family vineyard operations and its accounts until her death in February at age 99. She and her brother Ray, a UC Davis alumnus who died in 1997 at age 91, have been longtime supporters of UC Davis through the Rossi Prize. They established the prize in 1979 to benefit viticulture and enology students from the Napa Valley, and to honor the memories of their parents, Fred and Rachel Rossi, and their brother, Arthur Rossi.
Before her death, Louise Rossi had made plans for the family ranch to be sold to Frog's Leap Winery. John Williams, owner and winemaker of Frog's Leap nearby in Rutherford, and a UC Davis alumnus, was a longtime friend. Frog's Leap, established in 1981, uses only organically grown grapes and traditional winemaking techniques.
To read more background on the donation and the Rossi family, click here.
posted at 2:22 PM
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