Gifts That Berkeley Can Use Today
Appreciated Securities

Taking Pleasure in Giving

At UC Berkeley's Faculty Club, Peter Avenali '39 and his wife, Joan, are having lunch with the students who benefited from their scholarships this year.

Seated at Peter's right is Berkeley senior Marvin H Nettles Jr., the first in his Oakland family to go to college, who will attend law school in the fall and envisions running for mayor of Oakland one day. To his left is Katherine Trujillo, the first in her family to go to college, a student leader who looks toward law school and a bid for the presidency in 2044. Across the table is Alana Cararra, on her way to medical school so that she can become a doctor who creates health clinics in Central America and Africa. And next to Joan sits Mateo Fabersunne, from the tiny town of Dixon, who is just trying to make his family proud.

These are just four of the ten "Avenali Scholars" of 2010. "I am only here because of the philanthropy of people like you," says Mateo, speaking for all of the students, as everyone raises a glass to the Avenalis.

"It gives Joan and me a tremendous amount of pleasure," says Peter, who is visibly moved by these articulate, determined students. "We're lucky to be able to do it. In a sense, it's selfish."

Joan agrees with the sentiment. "It goes against the grain to give money to something when you don't see the results," she says. "here, you see the results."

Peter was a young man during the Great Depression and says his Berkeley education cost him $25 a semester - a price that included tickets to Cal Football games. The son of an Italian immigrant who was among the first employees of the Bank of Italy, now the Bank of America, Peter graduated from Berkeley with a degree in English literature, went to Harvard Business School, and then to war. He spent four and a half years in the Army, serving time on the frontlines, including at the bloody Battle of the Bulge in which some 19,000 Americans died.

Joan, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, was in the Navy working as a radio operator in Madison, Wisconsin, when she met Peter. They married after four dates in 1945 during Peter's 30-day leave from the Army and honeymooned in Lake Tahoe.

The Avenalis settled down in San Francisco and raised three children. Peter was among the first employees of Dodge and Cox, Inc., an investment counsel firm, and he later became the firm's CEO. Although he retired 20 years ago, he goes to the downtown San Francisco office nearly every day. Peter and Joan say they are always inspired after meeting their scholarship recipients. "You can see how badly scholarships are needed," says Peter. "And you can see how well they work."

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