Alan Templeton. Photo by Violet Carter.
So began his lifelong passion for the past — and the stories and artifacts that bring it to life. An art collector and exhibition curator, Templeton created an endowment for Berkeley’s Art History/Classics Library that mainly supports building the European collection, a boon for students and scholars for generations to come.
Templeton has used the library’s voluminous collections, which represent art from around the globe and across all time, in his own work. “This is hands down the leading public art library in Northern California, so it does a tremendous amount of service,” he says.
“The humanities force you to have empathy for other points of view.” — Alan Templeton
Extending beyond the physical tools of education, Templeton’s generosity also supports the humanists who rely on them in their studies. At the height of pandemic-induced uncertainty, he established an endowed fellowship for doctoral students in art history. The need was acute: The department had just decided not to offer admission to any doctoral students that year due to concerns about being able to provide financial support. Matching funds for graduate student endowments effectively doubled the gift.
For Templeton, supporting the humanities feels more important than ever. “Done correctly, the humanities are the antidote to our very divided society,” he says. Just as they transported him to new lands as a child, he hopes they can form bridges today.
“The humanities force you to have empathy for other points of view,” he says.
A trustee of the UC Berkeley Foundation, Templeton has also given to the College of Chemistry in honor of his parents, who studied chemistry at Cal, and to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
