The co-founders of a San Diego-based lighting technology firm recently pledged a $1.2 million gift to UCSD in support of graduate students in the university’s Jacobs School of Engineering and undergraduates through the Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program.
Sandra Timmons and Richard Sandstrom, founders of Cymer, Inc., designated $700,000 of their gift to establish the Sandstrom Graduate Fellowship in Engineering. They also earmarked $500,000 for the Timmstrom Scholars endowment fund, designed to support undergraduate scholarships. “We are deeply grateful to Sandra Timmons and Richard Sandstrom for their dedicated support and generosity to UC San Diego,” chancellor Pradeep Khosla said. “Their gift will have a profound impact on both undergraduate and graduate students for generations to come.”
“This new endowed fellowship will enhance our ability to attract and support some of the most exceptional engineering graduate students in the world,” said Albert Pisano, dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering. Cymer is an industry leader in developing lithography light sources, used by chipmakers worldwide to manufacture semiconductor chips. Timmons earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at UCSD in 1981. She went on to work as a television producer and writer before her involvement in community service. Sandstrom received his undergrad degree in applied mathematics and engineering science from UCSD in 1972, taking his master’s degree from UCSD in 1976 and Ph.D. in 1979. The funding will augment the Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program established by Khosla in 2013 to help ensure that qualified local students from all backgrounds have access to the university. The program provides eligible UCSD students who have graduated from Gompers Preparatory Academy, Lincoln High School and The Preuss School UCSD with $10,000 a year for four years.
The program will be extended to transfer students from San Diego City College and Southwestern College this fall. Graduates of Reality Changers — which helps youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to become the first in their families to attend college — will be eligible for the scholarship next fall.
“The Chancellor’s Associates Scholarship enables all qualified students the opportunity to attend UC San Diego, not just those with families that have the means to send them,” Timmons said. “We have donated to the Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program because we believe it is important to support our local community and help in the development of the region’s future leaders. By focusing on inclusion, the program increases the diversity of the university, which benefits all students.”
“Sandy and I believe UC San Diego is an amazing school. It is a place to get a great education but one that has gotten much more expensive since we were there,” Sandstrom added. “Having access to an education from UC San Diego is having access to the American dream.” — From staff reports