Real estate investor, corporate executive and philanthropist Richard S. Ziman doesn’t hesitate when asked why he has contributed so much time, energy, leadership and financial support to the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
“To succeed in life is not just about having the biggest and most successful business endeavors,” Ziman said recently while standing outside the real estate center that bears his name. “To succeed in life is about making a difference, whether it’s in business or in philanthropy, and especially in education.”
Indeed, for almost 50 years, philanthropy has been a big part of Ziman’s life. “I started giving back through involvement and then financially, even before I could afford to,” he said, “because making a difference is as important to me as my job.” He turned his attention to UCLA Anderson School of Management in the 1990s. After being approached by John Anderson (with help from fellow real estate leaders Gene Rosenfeld and John Long), he established and endowed the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate at the Anderson Graduate School of Management in 2001. He now serves on both the Ziman Center’s and UCLA Anderson’s boards of advisors.
“The biggest message for people to understand about philanthropy is that you have an obligation to give back,” Ziman said. “And once you see how much of an impact you can make, that feeling grows on you. There’s that Albert Einstein saying [about] the responsibility of every human to make the world a better place than the one we found.”
In the nearly two decades since its debut, the Ziman Center has expanded exponentially. In addition to the opening of its physical space in 2001, the center offers unparalleled student programs, produces cutting-edge research, hosts industry forums and convenes numerous public policy and other initiatives, especially in areas affecting the social and cultural values of our community. The Ziman Center is unique, as it “brings together academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, other business folks and the politicians to discuss, debate and, hopefully, resolve the problems and significant issues involving the broad role of real estate and its extraordinary impact in our everyday lives,” Ziman said.
Ziman recently made another generous donation of $1 million to the center’s $20-million endowment campaign. The funds raised in the campaign will be allocated to fund student programs and curriculum, faculty research and support, professional and industry programming and community service and public policy leadership. “Helping to sustain and perpetuate research and education at Anderson,” he said, “the Ziman Center cannot possibly provide all of the answers surrounding real estate, but it can provide the resources to play a significant role in research, analysis, teaching and scholarship in areas of significance.” The Ziman Center’s initiative is part of Into the Next: The Campaign for UCLA Anderson, the school’s $300-million fundraising campaign that concludes in December 2019 and will transform management thought leadership and the learning experience at Anderson.
During his half century of experience in philanthropy, Ziman has made a habit of donating substantially to many significant institutions and their causes, from medical research to health care to senior citizens' initiatives and to all levels of education. But the core of his philosophy involves unleashing the power of education. “Without education, there is little or no chance that an individual can or will succeed or achieve any level of success in their lifetime,” he noted. “I look forward to seeing the Ziman Center continue to grow tremendously and to play an even more significant role in advancing thought leadership in the field of real estate education.”
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