When donors make a gift to UCSF Fresno, they have a choice: give to a current-use fund where their gift is fully expended with immediate impact or give to an endowed fund that will make a difference in perpetuity. Endowments provide both immediate and lasting benefits for our UCSF Fresno community and are critical to all great institutions in providing a reliable source of funding for our premier programs and talent.
Thanks to generous donors, we recently celebrated the culmination of two endowments that provide a steady stream of resources that will support the important work of the UCSF Fresno Department of Surgery in perpetuity. Both endowed funds allow the department to address priorities in teaching, research and patient care to continue providing UCSF Fresno trainees with a world-class clinical general surgery education that prepares them for successful careers in private practice and further training in competitive surgical fellowships.
In October 2023, family, friends and colleagues gathered at UCSF Fresno to celebrate the establishment of the James W. and Amy Davis Endowed Chair in Trauma honoring Lawrence Sue, MD, FACS, chief of the Division of Trauma at UCSF Fresno and UCSF clinical professor. The chair was established with an initial gift from James Davis, MD, and wife Amy Davis, BSN, and will support Dr. Sue’s work which focuses on general surgery, trauma, surgical critical care, medical education, trauma prevention, laparoscopy, tactical medicine and pre-hospital trauma care.
The Narayana Ambati, MD, and Rama Ambati Endowment in Urology honors Narayana Ambati, MD, a nationally recognized practitioner, researcher, educator, author, and speaker in the field of Urology and his wife Rama. Since he joined UCSF Fresno as clinical professor of Urology in 1986, Dr. Ambati has generously shared his passion and skill by training and mentoring future generations of local medical providers and surgeons as a leader in the UCSF Fresno Department of Surgery Residency Program. The endowment’s impact will be far reaching, making it possible for the department to host lectures featuring preeminent subject matter experts in Urology and deliver an exceptional education to UCSF Fresno physician trainees.
Each year, individual endowment funds are wisely and strategically invested by the UCSF Foundation. A percentage of the total endowment value is used to fund the donor’s intended purpose, whether it be a scholarship, program, research or any number of other worthy causes. These gifts live on in perpetuity, allowing donors to support their areas of passion long after the initial gift.
The importance of helping to build a strong foundation of endowments cannot be overstated. Endowments enable UCSF Fresno to recruit and retain a distinguished faculty, attract the best and brightest students, residents and fellows, perform groundbreaking research and provide the best in clinical care to San Joaquin Valley communities and beyond.
An endowed gift can make an enormous difference for our students, trainees, faculty members, educational programs, research and the future of UCSF Fresno. It’s a gift that keeps on giving forever. To learn more about the different types of endowed funds available at UCSF and other giving options, please contact Kathleen Smith, associate director of Development for UCSF Fresno at (559) 499-6426 or [email protected]
