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UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture Receives Scholarship Gift From Ann and Jerry Moss

The School of the Arts and Architecture (UCLArts) has received a gift of more than $500,000 from Ann and Jerry Moss to establish a scholarship fund for undergraduate and graduate students. The donation, the largest of its kind to support the arts at UCLA, was announced by Dean Christopher Waterman.

“We are exceedingly grateful to Ann and Jerry Moss for their generosity,” Waterman said. “Their gift will give UCLArts a competitive edge in recruiting and training the most promising artists, performers, architects and scholars who are enriched by a global view of the arts. The Mosses’ commitment underscores the central place the arts occupy in our culture and the important role the arts play in shaping our lives.”

“The Mosses are to be commended not only for their philanthropy but for the spirit behind it,” added Daniel Neuman, UCLA provost and executive vice chancellor. “By establishing the scholarships they are recognizing and focusing attention on the very real financial needs of our students — needs that are exacerbated during these times of severe budget constraints.”

The scholarships will be used to attract students from around the world and will cover almost all of their tuition and educational fees. The Moss Scholars Program will support students for the full terms of their education at UCLA — four years for undergraduate students and three years for graduate students. This assurance of long-term financial assistance at the onset of their UCLA experience will not only enable the Moss scholars to complete their education at UCLA, but will remove a significant burden and allow them to focus more fully on their studies. Waterman will work in consultation with the academic leadership of the school to identify the most highly qualified candidates.

Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert co-founded A&M Records, an independent record label, and Rondor Music, an independent music publishing company. A&M Records became one of the most successful independent record companies with such artists as Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Cat Stevens, Carole King, the Carpenters, Janet Jackson, The Police, Soundgarden, Sting, Supertramp, Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker, Styx, Quincy Jones and Burt Bacharach. They sold A&M Records to Polygram in 1990. Rondor Music became the world’s leading independent music publishing company and was subsequently sold in 2000 to Universal Music Group.

The Mosses’ gift reflects their long-standing involvement with the university and UCLArts. They have been donors to UCLA for more than two decades, supporting UCLA Performing Arts’ Royce Center Circle and Design for Sharing, the School of Medicine, Intercollegiate Athletics, and the Geffen Playhouse. Jerry Moss is a founding member of the UCLArts Board of Visitors. Ann Moss is a member of the Board of Visitors of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

UCLArts plays a vital role in the cultural and artistic life of the campus and of the Greater Los Angeles community. Providing a full range of academic degree programs and public arts programs, the school consists of six academic departments — Architecture and Urban Design, Art, Design | Media Arts, Ethnomusicology, Music, and World Arts and Cultures; the Center for Intercultural Performance; two museums — the Fowler Museum of Cultural History, and the Hammer Museum, which houses the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts; and UCLA Live, one of the premier arts presenters in the nation.

The gift is part of UCLA’s Ensuring Academic Excellence initiative, a five-year effort aimed at generating $250 million in private commitments specifically for the recruitment and retention of the very best faculty and graduate students. The initiative was launched in June. Its goals include $100 million to fund 100 new endowed chairs for faculty across campus, increasing the number to 331. In addition, campus officials plan to increase support for an estimated 3,500 graduate students per year by raising $100 million to fund fellowships and scholarships in the UCLA College and $50 million for fellowships and scholarships in UCLA’s 11 professional schools.