The Henrikson Endowment: Fueling Innovation
In 2001, through their estates, Rik and Flo Henrikson bequeathed more than $10 million to UC San Diego to fund an unrestricted endowment to be used for important campus projects, at the chancellor’s discretion.

“The Henriksons were longtime supporters of UCSD,” said Tony Dimitroff, trustee for the endowment and Rik Henrikson’s former law partner. “They believed deeply in the value of higher education, and they understood the importance of unrestricted funds to the university’s continuing excellence. The Henrikson endowment was a conscious effort to fuel innovation without limits.”

The campus has already made use of this very special resource for an important and ongoing priority: student scholarships and fellowships.

Service Learning Program Gains Momentum
Four-year-old Matteo Mah was all smiles when he took a test ride on a quadricycle adapted by a team of Jacobs School of Engineering students for the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) toy library. They are members of Teams in Engineering Service (TIES), a program supported in part by unrestricted funds that deploys students to create technology solutions for nonprofit community partners.

The Jacobs School team focused on a quadricycle that could be pedaled backwards and forwards, with an electromagnetic braking system button on the steering wheel easily activated by the child, or by the parent with a wireless remote control. After refining their prototype, the team turned it over to UCP where it is available on loan to children with disabilities throughout San Diego County.