Physics alumnus and longtime university supporter Dan Black has directed an irrevocable $3.5 million bequest to create the first named Cal State Fullerton deanship in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
Dean Marie Johnson is the first to hold the honorific title of Dan Black Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
Johnson, who has served as dean since 2016, said that Black’s commitment is a meaningful legacy of his family’s impact at Cal State Fullerton. The gift will allow the dean to use the endowment to promote college distinction, including in faculty and student scholarly work and research.
“I’m tremendously honored to be the first Dan Black Dean. This recognition of what Dan has meant to our university, college and the Physics Department is in perpetuity,” Johnson said. “The endowed position means that future deans will have resources to support the work of our students, staff and faculty and assist them to aspire to excellence.”
Black and his wife, Kathy Chao, have a nearly three-decade record of giving to his alma mater. The couple’s generosity over the years has supported science, business, education, history and military science students and college programs.
“It is truly an honor to create this deanship to support the excellent work of the college, faculty, students and staff to propel innovation, research and new opportunities,” Black said. “I owe much of my professional success to my Cal State Fullerton education and the incredibly supportive faculty who inspired me and changed my life.”
Black joined the U.S. Air Force after high school and later became a student at CSUF. He took a first-year physics class taught by the late physics professor Ray Adams, who became a lifelong friend and mentor. He credits this course, Adams and three other physics faculty members for changing the course of his life.
After graduating in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in physics, Black became a successful entrepreneur who founded and sold several multimillion-dollar companies. In 1998, he sold his first company and asked how he could give back to the university.
Highlights of the Blacks’ philanthropy include a gift to name the campus science laboratory Dan Black Hall and annual support of the directorship of the Nicholas and Lee Begovich Center for Gravitational-Wave Physics and Astronomy. Their gift commitments also fund Black family fellowships to support students involved in physics research and to help undergraduate and graduate history students with scholarly development and research.
The couple contributed to the college’s recent renovation efforts with a gift to name the Black Family Terrace at McCarthy Hall. They also provided a $1 million gift commitment to the university’s successful “It Takes a Titan Campaign,” which raised more than $270 million.
Johnson said that Black is a true partner to the college and university with his gift of time and longtime service.
Black has served in various volunteer university roles, including as one of the longest-serving members of the Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Foundation Board of Governors from 2004 to 2023. Members of the board of governors consist of business, community and university leaders who invest and steward donated funds for the betterment of students, faculty, staff and the greater community.
In 2007, Black was awarded an honorary doctorate, jointly given by Cal State Fullerton and the California State University. His other accolades include the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2000 and the College of Education’s Distinguished Education Community Partner Award in 2020.
“Dan is one-of-a-kind. He’s led the way for other donors, set the example with his service and has fostered philanthropy on this campus,” Johnson said. “He’s always asking, ‘What do you need?’ ‘How can I help?’ The impact he has had on our students and faculty is extraordinary.”