VISIONARY LEADERS
What inspires people to go above and beyond in making a difference? A vision of a more inclusive world with greater opportunity for all. Our success depends on the alumni and other partners who give back in ways that inspire and empower CSUN students today and for generations to come.
FOSTERING CHANGE
With generosity that truly reaches across campus, alumnus Milt Valera and his wife, Debbie Valera, who are instrumental figures in the notary field and the community, have changed lives for students in colleges and programs throughout the university. Their longtime support of CSUN includes a recent gift of more than $11 million that is transforming numerous student support programs, particularly those that assist students who were part of the foster care system.
The Valeras’ gift is an investment in former foster youth, creating an endowment and scholarship for the recently renamed EOP’s Milt & Debbie Valera Resilient Scholars Program. The gift also supports scholarships and endowments in colleges across the campus, including an endowment for the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts.
“Education has always been an important part of our lives, and we are proud that our gift will be able to be put to good use at so many programs on CSUN’s campus,” Milt Valera said. “Using a word that is not taken lightly, it is indeed a privilege to be able to give to the university and provide for others what we have been so fortunate to have for ourselves,” Debbie Valera said.
A FAMILY'S LEGACY
The Nazarian family has championed CSUN in numerous ways that have transformed education and the arts in the San Fernando Valley and beyond. Distinguished business leader, philanthropist and alumnus David Nazarian was the prime mover behind a $25 million fundraising initiative for the business college that now bears his name, launching that effort with a $10 million gift that gives students opportunities for mentoring and professional development. His parents, Younes and Soraya Sarah Nazarian, ensured access to the arts with a $17 million gift through their Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation to support the venue now known as the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. Soraya Nazarian, a renowned sculptor, also created two inspiring sculptures that were installed outside the performing arts center and CSUN’s David Nazarian College of Business and Economics.
Following the family’s transformational gifts, David Nazarian invested in CSUN again, serving as chair of the Campaign Leadership Committee whose members served as early investors in our first comprehensive campaign and partnered with university leadership to ensure its success. “While investing in companies can change lives and improve our economy,” David Nazarian said, “nothing is more impactful and important than access to quality education and mentoring.”
CELEBRATING SUPPORT
TRANSFORMING BUSINESS EDUCATION
Further enhancing their enduring legacy of support, alumni Harvey Bookstein, an accounting industry leader, and his wife, Harriet Bookstein, a successful business manager, gave $5 million to cap a campaign to raise $25 million for the Nazarian College. In recognition of their commitment to elevate the college and its programs, the CSU Board of Trustees named Bookstein Hall in their honor.
BUILDING A FIELD OF DREAMS
An ongoing project to renovate and modernize CSUN baseball’s Matador Field, including the welcoming new entrance plaza, was launched with a cornerstone gift of $1.5 million from alumnus and consumer goods entrepreneur Irv Zakheim, CSUN’s starting second baseman for the 1970 NCAA Division II National Champion baseball team.
A SEISMIC LEGACY
In memory of her late husband, Frank Hanna, a 1966 geology alumnus and former faculty member, Marilyn Hanna’s support has modernized the Department of Geological Sciences and elevated its prestige over nearly two decades, including a recent $1.5 million gift to ensure student access to field studies, graduate fellowships, summer student research and scholarships.