On behalf of the UCLA School of Dentistry, the UCLA Foundation has received a pledge of $1 million from Dr. David Y. Lee and Dr. Miki M. Nam for the purpose of establishing the David and Miki Lee Endowment Fund. A discretionary endowment, the fund will benefit the School of Dentistry's academic programs.

Lee is president of Jamison Properties, Inc., a commercial real estate company with holdings in Southern California and Dallas, Texas, and a member of the board of counselors of the UCLA School of Dentistry. An internist with an M.D. degree from Northwestern University, Lee is a "double Bruin," having earned his master's of public health from the UCLA School of Public Health in 1979 and his master's of business administration from the Anderson School in 1981. His wife received a doctoral degree in dental surgery from the UCLA School of Dentistry in 1983.

The couple resides in Beverly Hills and is active in the Korean American community in Los Angeles. Longtime supporters of the UCLA School of Dentistry, they have made other philanthropic gifts, including a founding membership in the Apollonian Society, new cubicles in the Bisco Dental Teaching Laboratory and a discretionary research fund in the field of periodontics.

"It gives me great satisfaction to know that Miki and I are playing a vital role in advancing the UCLA School of Dentistry's mission to improve oral health through research, education and public service," Lee said.

The David and Miki Lee Endowment will support the UCLA School of Dentistry's academic programs in perpetuity, according to Dr. No-Hee Park, dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry.

"It gives me tremendous pleasure to know that this generous gift comes from a member of our board of counselors and an alumna, two people who have had the opportunity to get to know our institution and, as a result, have decided to deepen their partnership with us," said Park. "The experiences of future dental students will be enhanced as a direct result of their foresight and strong commitment to education."

The UCLA School of Dentistry, which is dedicated to improving the oral health of the people of California, the nation and the world, has established an international reputation for its teaching, research, patient care and public service initiatives. The school provides education and training programs that develop leaders in dental education, research, the profession and the community; conducts research programs that generate new knowledge, promote oral health and investigate the cause, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of oral disease, and delivers patient centered oral health care to the community and state. For more information, visit http://uclasod.dent.ucla.edu.

California's largest university, UCLA enrolls approximately 38,000 students per year and offers degrees from the UCLA College of Letters and Science and 11 professional schools in dozens of varied disciplines. UCLA consistently ranks among the top five universities and colleges nationwide in total research-and-development spending, receiving more than $820 million a year in competitively awarded federal and state grants and contracts. For every $1 state taxpayers invest in UCLA, the university generates almost $9 in economic activity, resulting in an annual $6 billion economic impact on the Greater Los Angeles region. The university's health care network treats 450,000 patients per year. UCLA employs more than 27,000 faculty and staff, has more than 350,000 living alumni and has been home to five Nobel Prize recipients.

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