The Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation pledged $1 million to the UCLA School of Dentistry this week for the permanent endowment of a chair in the division of oral biology and medicine.
The endowed chair will be named in honor of Dr. No-Hee Park, the current dean of the School of Dentistry.
“Dean Park is a fantastic guy, a terrific scientist and researcher,” said Ralph Shapiro, a UCLA alumnus who donated the money. “He has been a great dean and administrator … (who has) given 10 years of his life to the School of Dentistry. He really deserves the recognition of having a chair in his name at the dental school so that when he finishes being a dean, his name will go on.”
Over the course of his career, Park has contributed to the understanding and treatment of herpes simplex virus, human papilloma virus, oral cancer and cell aging, according to the School of Dentistry Web site.
As dean of the School of Dentistry, Park has eliminated the school’s deficit, increased fundraising and nearly doubled the school’s annual budget, according to a UCLA statement.
Park, the longest-serving UCLA dentistry dean, implemented a new dental science curricula last fall “to improve the integration of basic and clinical sciences and promote student leadership,” according to the statement.
Park said in the statement that he was moved that the Shapiros chose to create the chair in his name. He said it is the most significant honor of his career.
Sandra Shagat, a university spokeswoman, said the school will invest the money pledged by the Dr. No-Hee Park Endowed Chair.
The investment of endowments is a common practice among universities, as it allows these donations to grow in value over time, Shagat added.
A certain portion of the Park endowment will be spent each year to help support the research of the sitting chair-holder, she said.
The first recipient of the Park endowment has not yet been announced.
The School of Dentistry currently has six endowed chairs. More than 300 chairs have been endowed at the university, Shagat said.
The Dr. No-Hee Park Endowed Chair is one of many sizeable contributions the Shapiros have made to UCLA.
They have donated more than $24 million to UCLA over the past five decades through the Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation, according to a UCLA statement. Other recent donations include a $2 million pledge to the Geffen School of Medicine and a $1.5 million pledge to the School of Law in 2008.
Shapiro said his fond feelings toward the university led him to donate his money.
“I received a great education at UCLA and was able to make a nice living for my family, and I feel an obligation to pay back and help make things available for future generations,” Shapiro said.