A $3M Match for Science

Two Cal State East Bay donors are leading the way for the university to raise the remaining $6.1 million needed to build a $30 million Applied Sciences Center with a $3 million dollar-for-dollar match for gifts that support completing the campaign for the new building.

Since 2010, the College of Science has become the fastest growing and largest college on campus. At the same time, California is in need of more than 2 million STEM workers and is facing a severe shortage of STEM trained teachers due to smaller class sizes and a drop in teacher credential enrollment. 

“The innovation [and] STEM economy is essential to communities all throughout Northern California, not just here in the Bay Area,” said Rich Robbins, donor and founder of Wareham Development. “Cal State East Bay graduates ​not only fuel that larger regional economy but, as one of the most diverse schools in the system, CSUEB students bring much-needed diversity of background, thought and perspective to this highly competitive and essential field.” 

The forthcoming Applied Sciences Center is designed to meet those needs. The 20,000 square foot building will feature state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary areas for student and faculty research projects, well-equipped labs, and a STEM Lab to support students moving through their introductory courses.  

“By investing in this infrastructure and technology today, we are investing in critical science education for our future students, our community, and the world,” said donor and Cal State East Bay Educational Foundation Trustee Randy Davis (BS ’02 Biological Sciences; MS ’06, Biological Sciences), who alongside his wife, Pat, is supporting the ASC.

Robbins agreed, saying he hopes the match will inspire even more students to pursue careers in STEM and help meet the needs of California’s growing STEM industry. 

“It is our privilege and our mission to help students without the resources or foundation to access equal opportunity to career paths in innovation industries where their skills will always be needed and which will always provide them with jobs with dignity and the opportunity to stay and grow here in Northern California,” he said. 

“It is our privilege and our mission to help students without the resources or foundation to access equal opportunity to career paths.”

Both the Davis and Robbins families have previously supported Cal State East Bay’s efforts to prepare students for future jobs in STEM fields. 

The Nancy P. and Richard K. Robbins Family Foundation has long supported the Institute for STEM education and previously donated $1 million to the ASC. And since 2019, Davis and his wife Pat have provided more than $1.8 million in seed funding for the now thriving Green Biome Institute and $1.5 million for the future GBI lab in the ASC. The institute, which will be a cornerstone of the new ASC building, is the only one of its kind in the California State University system. 

"I am sincerely grateful for the generosity of donors who continue to provide resources and support for our students, as Randy, Pat, Rich and Nancy have done with this match,” said President Cathy Sandeen. “Because of their gifts, we will have a state-of-the-art Applied Sciences Center where our students can continue researching and building the hands-on skills they'll need to become the scientists and engineers who will solve some of our world's most pressing challenges."