Eric Stern '87, chair of the UC Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees. Photo by Keegan Houser.
Stern, who graduated from UC Berkeley in 1987 with a degree in business administration, is a partner and portfolio manager with Capital Group. He actively supports institutions in his community while maintaining a powerful allegiance to his alma mater. Among many areas of service, he chairs the UC Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees, which is the fiduciary to the university endowment, encourages private philanthropy, and acts as an adviser and advocate. We talked with Stern about his Cal experiences and efforts to ensure its continued excellence.
What led you to study business administration?
I came to Cal almost certain that I wanted to study poli sci and go to law school. I was a politically-minded kid. I loved my very first poli sci course. But then it went downhill after that, and I realized the shoe didn’t fit as well as I thought it would. I had a heart-to-heart with my father, and he said, “Why don’t you study something practical?” Happily, Haas was where the shoe fit!
How did Berkeley help define you?
I came to Berkeley as a middle-class kid from suburbia without the grandest worldview. Immediately upon arriving here, my horizons expanded immensely. Part of that was in the classroom, and part was just being on campus. There were big protests against apartheid and shanties built around campus. Being a part of the ASUC Senate and working with different student groups on a wide variety of issues opened my eyes.
“That’s the life lesson: It’s a big world. You can lead a really rich and fulfilling life if you get out and see the world, meet people, and embrace diverse ideas.” — Eric Stern
How has your career influenced your giving?
I started at Capital Group 34 years ago as an equity analyst covering the U.S. health care industry. I analyzed companies that made genetic sequencers right as the Human Genome Project was taking off. The National Institutes of Health and research universities around the country were buying a bunch of these sequencers because everybody was in a race to map the human genome. Being there at that moment and seeing how a new technology could open up a field of research that would ultimately benefit human health was incredibly invigorating.
A significant piece of my philanthropy at Cal has been focused on the health sciences — a direct result of this experience. I really want to support students who are trying to solve unmet medical needs or find a way to improve the human condition. There’s incredible basic research going on at Cal that does exactly that.
In your role as board chair, what’s the biggest challenge you see facing Berkeley?
The federal government and our state government are not the partners that they once were for higher education writ large or for Berkeley specifically. Adjusting to that means both dealing with the external environment and making changes internally to adapt. It’s a tall, tall, tall task for the university’s administration, and they have my great admiration for the concerted effort they’re putting in.
There’s so much change going on in society. To really make a difference in critical areas, we have to continually reinvest in the university, both in its faculty and in its infrastructure. We can’t be static.
Berkeley is such a big university with so many needs of great meaning and value. How do you define what’s important to support?
I just follow my heart. In the case of health care, I could see clearly what the need was and wanted to make a direct gift that I thought would make a difference. I have no illusion that my priority is the most important priority at the university — and I don’t think it needs to be. Every donor just needs to find something that they’re passionate about. Chances are your philanthropy will be incredibly impactful.
Just for fun
Bands that you listened to in college — Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, and the Violent Femmes
Hardest class — Business law. I just remember that the reading was long and dense and hard. I never worked harder in a class.
Favorite restaurant — Top Dog. I go back to it as often as I can.
Most cherished Cal belonging — After my father passed away, my mom dated a Cal alum named Gerry Ornstein. They went to many Cal football games together. He held seats at the 50-yard line for 50 years. We became very close and Gerry gave me his cufflinks with the Cal seal on them.
