Legacy of learning: Alum’s charitable gift annuity opens doors for student researchers

Supporting public education and opening doors for the next generation of students are top priorities for retired cardiologist Bob Blumberg ’67, a double UC alum who earned his bachelor’s degree from UC Davis and his medical degree from UC San Francisco in 1971. 

Thanks to a charitable gift annuity (CGA), he can do exactly that. While receiving income from his gift, Blumberg has established a fund to provide undergraduate scholarships for first-generation students in the College of Biological Sciences.

“A charitable gift annuity just made sense — I could support a cause I care about, receive dependable income at a favorable rate, and give more than I might have otherwise felt comfortable giving, all while knowing the funds would ultimately go to good use,” said Blumberg.

In addition to his CGA, Blumberg has committed to supporting students for the next three years by making a gift to the annual Dean’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) in the College of Biological Sciences. The first recipient of Blumberg’s support, fourth-year Han Wang, conducted research on reproductive health and presented her work at the end of the summer program.

“The students did a great job with the presentation and it’s clearly important to their education,” said Blumberg, who was impressed by the research. “They are all undergraduates, but their work could have been part of a Ph.D. dissertation, which was extraordinary.”

Blumberg is also a longtime supporter of the UC Davis Annual Fund, which provides flexible funding to the areas of greatest need—including scholarships, faculty resources and facility upgrades—across the university. 

Summer job inspired career in medicine

Early exposure to research was pivotal to Blumberg’s path to medicine. There were no other doctors in his family, but he had a natural interest in science and math. In high school, one of his teachers recommended him for a summer lab assistant position at UCSF. 

Blumberg started off doing cleaning jobs like washing glassware, but the researchers there encouraged his interest and started teaching him more complex work and bringing him to conferences. Looking back, Blumberg notes this first job was the launch pad for his career.   

“If I hadn’t had that opportunity, my career might have taken a totally different turn. I think it’s important to do anything we can do to support and open doors for future generations,” said Blumberg, who is now giving students similar opportunities through the SURP scholarship.

That early opportunity turned into practicing medicine for more than 50 years as a cardiologist, which appealed to Blumberg because of its vigorous and rapidly changing nature. 

“It’s an exciting, dynamic profession. When you’re diagnosing cardiac conditions, many of which are life threatening, you're in the emergency room and the critical care units, so the adrenaline flows. I found it just fascinating.”

Passion for wine led to UC Davis

Born and raised in San Francisco, Blumberg chose UC Davis because it was close to home, but he also had another reason: wine.

Blumberg studied French in high school and decided to major in French at UC Davis with the goal of studying abroad. Additionally, he had always been interested in wine and enjoyed learning about the science behind it. In his third year he studied abroad in Bordeaux. 

“I took the winemaking class at UC Davis and I just loved it,” Blumberg said. “When I went to France, I realized how important wine was to French culture and how there were so many different wine regions and varieties in France.”

His passion for French culture and wine became a significant part of his life, and was especially important throughout his career as a cardiologist. 

“Medicine is a wonderful profession but it’s very intense. It’s nice to have other passions that you can branch out to. Many of my friends were people that I met through interest in wine, travel and cooking,” said Blumberg. “We’ve had a well-rounded, enriched circle of friends, and these little retreats from medicine made it easier to go back and reengage.” 

Supporting generations of Aggies

Although Blumberg was the first in his family to attend UC Davis, several of his family members followed in his footsteps, including his son, Marc Blumberg ’00. Between family graduations and wine events, Blumberg has had many reasons to stay in touch with the campus.

“In many ways I feel I have always been connected to UC Davis, and once we could start increasing our charitable contributions, there was so many things I was happy to support,” he said.

A lifelong learner, Blumberg also enjoys keeping up with seminars from UC Davis experts on a wide array of subjects. For him, the quality of public higher education is invaluable.   

“I feel very strongly about supporting a multitude of charitable causes that are near to my heart, and I think public education needs to be supported. I am so impressed with the quality of all that has happened at UC Davis.”