The Campaign for the New Century, launched in 1996 to help attract the best faculty and students to Berkeley, as well as to support and retain the talented people already here, has raised $1 billion so far. This is a historic high for Cal, but does not signal the end of fundraising. There are 18 months left to the campaign, now rushing toward its $1.1 billion goal.

Among universities west of the Mississippi, only Berkeley and Stanford have reached the billion-dollar mark in a capital campaign. (Stanford raised $1.269 billion in its Centennial Campaign, held between 1987 and 1992.)

"We have to thank our alumni and friends who've connected with Cal in profound ways these last few years of our campaign," said Chancellor Berdahl. To illustrate the point, Cal's alumni participation rate climbed from nine percent in 1993 to 14 percent in more recent years. That represents a 50 percent increase in the size of the alumni pool that gives to Berkeley.

The $1 billion raised so far came from more than 200,000 contributors, including individuals, corporations and foundations -- an impressive figure given that Berkeley's worldwide alumni base is about 340,000.