UCLA's School of Nursing will be renamed the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Nursing following a $30 million commitment from alumnus Joe C. Wen and his family, the university announced Tuesday.
The gift represents the largest philanthropic commitment in the nursing school's history and will make it the first UCLA school named for an Asian American.
"Nurses are the backbone of health care," said UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk. "This extraordinary gift from Joe C. Wen and his family honors that vital role. It expands our ability to educate the next generation of nurse leaders and faculty."
The commitment will support the school's four educational programs, expand nursing research and help UCLA meet California's health care needs.
Wen, who earned a bachelor's degree in economics from UCLA in 1998, immigrated from Taiwan to the United States as a teenager. He later earned an MBA from USC before launching a paper trading company in 2003 that evolved into Formosa Ltd., now a multinational conglomerate.
"My family joins me in this commitment to support the mission of the School of Nursing to strengthen excellence in education and the health care system," Wen said. "This transformational gift will help create a global academic research powerhouse and think tank for future nursing leaders."
Wen and his Orange County-based family have committed over $100 million to the University of California system since 2022. In 2024, their gift led to the creation of the UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, making him the first Asian American to name two UC schools.
The UCLA School of Nursing, established more than 75 years ago, enrolls nearly 600 students annually across undergraduate and doctoral programs. It was the first undergraduate nursing program west of the Mississippi and the first in California to confer a Master of Science in Nursing degree.
School of Nursing Dean Lin Zhan called the gift "historic and visionary," saying it will help prepare exceptional nurses and leaders across health care systems.
The school maintains a partnership with UCLA Health, which employs nearly 6,000 nurses across California.
"This transformative gift will allow the UCLA School of Nursing to excel in preparing outstanding nurses at a time when we see shortages in the hospital and health system industry," said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health.
Edited by SMDP Staff