Michael and Cathy Casteel ’68

By Jonathan Riggs 

As a famous quote attributed to Audrey Hepburn goes: “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

“That’s certainly how we feel about helping future generations of students — it’s like planting a garden,” says Cathy Casteel, who graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1968. “There’s no limit to what these students could accomplish or where they could go, and knowing that today we can help level the playing field and increase opportunities for tomorrow is a wonderful feeling.”

That’s why she and her husband have been such thoughtful “gardeners,” giving $100,000 in 2016 to endow the Cathy D. and Michael A. Casteel Centennial Scholars fund for students in the department of English, augmented by a $50,000 match from the UCLA Centennial Scholars Match Initiative. In 2022, the couple committed $250,000 to endow the Cathy D. and Michael A. Casteel Undergraduate Scholarship in the UCLA College Division of Undergraduate Education, with an additional $50,000 current-use pledge to support the purpose of this scholarship.

“We are both firm believers in higher education and supporting the wonderful institutions we graduated from,” says Michael Casteel. “We want more students to have the transformative experience a place like UCLA can provide.”

The first in her family to go to college, Cathy Casteel grew up in Los Angeles and chose UCLA on the recommendation of a trusted high school English teacher. She made the most of her time on campus, working in the UCLA bookstore to make ends meet, never missing an opportunity to explore the libraries and soaking up the culture, knowledge and excitement of a busy undergraduate experience.

Both in school and beyond, she credits her UCLA humanities education with helping her become an empathetic, engaged citizen of the world — and one who is determined to ensure that others can share similar journeys in perpetuity.

To this end, the Casteels generously expanded the impact of their scholarships by blending each with an estate gift to make the greatest impact both immediately and long term. They made a bequest of $1 million to strengthen their undergraduate education scholarship, and they have designated their centennial scholarship in English as a beneficiary of their charitable remainder unitrust to ensure their legacy endures.

“You can’t take it with you,” Michael Casteel says with a smile, “and that has guided our giving.”

Cathy Casteel agrees.

“I’ve been so moved talking to the student recipients of our scholarships and of others — we are happy to trust Dean Adriana Galván to put this money to the best use,” she adds. “It’s very exciting to know we can help so many students reach their full potential who might not otherwise have had the chance.”

SPACE FOR GRATITUDE

Investing in what students can and will accomplish for the benefit of all inspired Bryan Horning, who graduated from UCLA in 1975 with a Ph.D. in space physics. Concerned about the sustainability of life on Earth, he sees space exploration as key to the survival of humanity.

“There are so many questions of physics, astrophysics and planetary and space science we don’t understand yet, but we need to before we can get where we need to go in terms of finding resources on other planets,” he says. “It may take a few generations, but I believe science can lead to extraordinary solutions.”

And so he committed an irrevocable testamentary pledge of $3.2 million to establish the Bryan L. Horning Endowed Fund in Physics and Astronomy as well as the Bryan L. Horning Endowed Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences Fund to support undergraduates and graduate students alike.

It’s a topic that’s fired his imagination his entire life — Horning grew up loving television shows like “Space Patrol” and “Rocky Jones, Space Ranger,” began writing biographies of astronomers and physicists while he was in high school, studied under the renowned planetary science professors Robert McPherron and Gerald Schubert as a doctoral student at UCLA and retired from a successful aerospace career of his own in 2012.

“UCLA gave me the opportunity to study important subjects I loved with incredible professors,” Horning says. “I’m proud to give back to further the future work of students who will make the breakthroughs we as a planet still so desperately need.”

AN ARTIST’S EYE FOR THE FUTURE

Photography by Helen Houldsworth
Jules Brenner (right) with Jules Brenner Scholar’s Achievement Awardees Lulan Wang (2016), Courtney Young (2017) and Aimee Flores (2018)

Although Brooklyn-born Jules Brenner only attended UCLA for a short time, he always appreciated the experience. The university and its community made a lasting impression on him, a true Renaissance man who served in the U.S. Army and went on to work as an underwater photographer, writer, and film and mystery novel reviewer — and to make an indelible mark on the silver screen.

In Hollywood, Brenner rose through the ranks to become an acclaimed director of photography and cinematography, earning credits on a wide range of projects, including the influential Cheech & Chong film “Up in Smoke,” the modern horror classic “The Return of the Living Dead,” the Stephen King vampire miniseries “Salem’s Lot” and the cult TV favorite “MacGyver.”

In 2019, he published his autobiography, fittingly titled “Shooting Stars: A Movie Industry Memoir,” filled with countless colorful anecdotes of a life in film. On the jacket copy he highlighted a few of his most vivid memories, including how he “met (and shot) Paul Newman, got fired by Kirk Douglas, lit Donald Sutherland as Christ, got kissed by Geraldine Page and speared a fish for lunch with Cheech Marin.”

Before his 2021 death, Brenner had circled back to UCLA. Inspired by the impactful work being done in the division of life sciences to further humanity’s ability to cure diseases, he funded the Jules Brenner Scholar’s Achievement Award in Molecular Biology and was considering making a bequest for an endowed chair. Although he died before he could finalize such an additional gift, his thoughtful planning did not go for naught.

In late 2022, the Jules Brenner Revocable Living Trust gave a $2.13-million gift to establish the Jules Brenner Endowed Chair in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, the first endowed chair in the department.

“Jules was very proud of his time at UCLA and the university’s consistent leadership in cutting-edge research and scientific discovery,” says Steve Oakley, the trustee. “Jules would be humbled and proud to have his name associated with the academic excellence fostered by UCLA and the department of MCDB.”

The trust will also fund a $100,000 endowed Jules Brenner Scholar’s Achievement Award supporting graduate students in the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA, ensuring that Brenner’s visionary compassion continues to take deeper root — and flower — endlessly.

To plant your own garden, contact:

UCLA Development
(310) 794-2345
gifts@support.ucla.edu

Office of Gift Planning
(800) 737-8252
giftplanning@support.ucla.edu