UCLA received a donation of $15 million to renovate the UCLA Botany Building.
The gift, which was donated by UCLA alumnus Morton La Kretz, will go toward upgrading labs for teaching and research, building a new class lab and refurbishing the entrance and lobby to the building’s Charles E. Young Drive entrance.
The renovation of the Botany Building is an ongoing project and is scheduled to be completed January 2022, according to a university press release.
La Kretz, who graduated UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in 1948, has donated a combined $20 million to the reconstruction of the Botany Building since 2017. UCLA has decided to rename the building the La Kretz Botany Building following this most recent donation.
He is the founder and president of a real estate development and property management company. Although he is 92 years old, La Kretz has no plans to retire in the near future, according to a university press release.
La Kretz has made contributions to UCLA for more than 15 years. He funded the construction of La Kretz Hall, which is where UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability is located.
La Kretz also funded the construction of the entrance to the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, the construction of the La Kretz Garden Pavilion and the La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science in the Santa Monica Mountains, which is managed by the IoES and the National Park Service.