To strengthen UCSB’s ability to compete with other institutions in recruiting high-caliber graduate students, alumnus Fredric Steck of Santa Ynez and the Fredric E. Steck Family Foundation have given the campus a $500,000 endowment.

The gift will enable UCSB to expand its graduate programs by providing fellowships and teaching assistantships, which are necessary to attract top students across the disciplines.

Steck, who is also a trustee of the UCSB Foundation, said he made the gift to recognize the impressive accomplishments of UCSB graduate students and to honor the memory of his father, Emil Steck, Jr., for whom the endowment in the Graduate Division is named.

“My father valued his own education as the most significant experience shaping his life and his career as an attorney,” said Steck. “If he knew that a graduate fellowship at UCSB was named in his honor, without restriction to discipline, he would view this as a crowning achievement in a lifetime dedicated to achievement and education.”

Charles Li, dean of the Graduate Division, said, “UCSB is extremely grateful to Fredric Steck and the Steck Family Foundation for this generous endowment. With recent increases in graduate student fees and nonresident tuition, private donations have become increasingly important if UCSB is to be competitive in recruiting and retaining outstanding graduate students and assisting their scholarly development.”