Proud parents honor their sons by giving back
Proud parents Stephen and Linda Crowe were looking for a meaningful and enduring way to honor their son, Jeremy, a fourth-year undergraduate student in UCSC’s computer science program.
They wanted to acknowledge his studies and his strong performance, while also giving a boost to the program itself.
Crowe, a new UC Santa Cruz Foundation trustee and a retired vice president of finance and CFO of Chevron Corporation, found a way to achieve both goals: He and Linda are giving $100,000 in unrestricted funds to UCSC’s Computer Engineering Department to help other students have the transformative experiences Jeremy had.
The gift stemmed in part from Crowe’s visits with UCSC Computer Science Department Chair Jim Whitehead. “What a terrific guy,” Crowe said. Together they hashed out some possible goals for the unrestricted funds, including a program that could bring guest lecturers “over the hill” from Silicon Valley to teach computer science courses, building bridges with the tech industry while adding an extra dose of real-world heft to the classroom experience.
The Crowes also credit visits and talks with Steve Bourdow, senior development officer, Baskin Engineering, who they said played a key role in engaging them with UCSC.
The potential program reflects the Crowes’ philosophy about growth and opportunities in college.
“At the end of the day, for both of our boys, and certainly for Jeremy, it is all about the connections you have with other people,” Stephen Crowe said. “In this case, he had such a terrific experience with faculty and other students.”
Giving to the UC system has become a family tradition for the Crowes. Prior to making their gift to UCSC, they did something similar for UC Santa Barbara, where their older son, Chris, received a degree in pharmacology in 2010.
All this giving is part of what the Crowes have described as “the second phase of our lives, to do some benefit for other people and get involved.”
The Crowes have strong ties with the UC system. Crowe himself is a graduate of UC Berkeley, and also received his MBA there. He also serves as an executive fellow at the Haas School of Business at Cal. His brother, sister-in-law, and niece all went to Berkeley, and they have family members with ties to UCLA and UCSF.
“The UC system offers a quality education, and we felt that part of our gifting in my retirement years would be in support of higher education,” Crowe said. “What better way to support UC than give to the campuses our sons attended.”