Jack Gilbert announces $1 Million Challenge Gift to CLU

Jack Gilbert, chairman of the board of TOLD Corp. and one of Ventura County’s most successful businessmen, pledged an additional gift of $1 million to the fundraising campaign for California Lutheran University’s north campus athletics complex. Gilbert, who along with his wife Carol presented CLU with a $2 million gift last year, made the surprise announcement at a Nov. 14 luncheon in Santa Barbara where he was being honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals as Philanthropist of the Year.

In making the spontaneous gift announcement, Gilbert challenged others in the audience of nearly 300 to help CLU finish its $80 million Now is the Time campaign. “The university is at $68 million now, and they need your help,” he said with his characteristic grin.

He made a similar request when he presented the university with one of the largest North Campus gifts of $2 million last year. That generous gift allowed him to name the long–awaited gymnasium – the Jack Gilbert Arena – in the Sports and Fitness Center.

The Sports and Fitness Center will house a main gymnasium (Jack Gilbert Arena) and practice gym as well as classrooms and labs, a fitness center, dance studio, sports medicine facility, faculty/coach offices, the Lundring Events Center, and the Alumni Association Hall of Fame. Local architect David Osborn and his team at JDO+ Associates are designing the project. It will be built using concrete tilt–up construction which has been a trademark of TOLD Corp. for many years.

Other sports venues planned for the North Campus include the George Sparky Anderson baseball stadium, the Samuelson Aquatics Center, soccer fields, a football stadium, a track and tennis courts. Construction on the 94,880–square–foot Sports and Fitness Center is set to begin in 2004 with an anticipated completion time of one year.

To date, the Now is the Time Campaign has resulted in the construction of the Spies–Bornemann Center for Education and Technology, which was dedicated in fall 2002, as well as gifts toward the university’s endowment, scholarships and annual fund.

The founder of Burbank–based Zero Corp., an electronic packaging firm, Gilbert moved to Ventura County in 1973 and founded the Thousand Oaks Land and Development Corp. (TOLD Corp.), which has been ranked among the top 100 industrial and commercial developers in the nation.

A champion of business, community and charitable programs, Gilbert has been honored by numerous organizations. He received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from CLU in 1990 and was the first recipient of the Hall of Fame Award presented by the Ventura County Economic Development Association (VCEDA) in 1989. Recognized as a major contributor to the economic progress of Ventura County, the Oxnard resident and former member of the Board of Regents at CLU has been a supporter of the University since 1985.