Ruiz Foods family gives big multi-million gift to a Valley school. Here’s who, how much
Fred Ruiz of Fresno, co-founder and former chairman of Mexican frozen-foods manufacturer Ruiz Foods, and his wife Mitzie have for years provided financial support to fellowships and endowments at UC Merced.
On Saturday, leaders at the North Valley university announced the latest – and largest – contribution by the couple to date: a $15 million donation that will endow a scholarship fund and provide financial support for undergraduate students from throughout the Central Valley who attend UC Merced.
In exchange, the university is naming its new administration building and enrollment center as the Fred and Mitzie Ruiz Administration Center.
The Ruiz contribution is one of the largest individual gifts ever made to the university. UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz announced the donation at a kick-off event on the Merced campus for the university’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign dubbed “Boldly Forward.” The campaign officially launched last month.
“UC Merced would not be what it is today without the meaningful partnership of Fred and Mitzie Ruiz,” Muñoz said. “Their generous commitment to name the administration center is just the latest in their long history of supporting and advancing the students and vital work of our university.”
Fred Ruiz was a founding member of the UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees and served as a member of the University of California Board of Regents from 2004 to 2016.
The couple have contributed to the university’s Ruiz Family Chair in Entrepreneurship, the Fred and Mitzie Ruiz Endowed Fellowship for graduate students who contribute to the school’s diversity, and the Rose R. Ruiz Endowed Scholarship and Fellowship Fund to support undocumented and first-generation college students.
“My personal goal is to help UC Merced grow,” Fred Ruiz said, “but I’m most interested in how its presence helps the region continue to develop and benefits the students.”
Mitzie Ruiz shared her husband’s goals. “I would love for the students from the Valley to receive their education and stay here to add their knowledge to the community,” she said. “If we can get more kids in college and help them succeed, we have a better chance of them staying here and doing great things.”
While the Boldly Forward campaign remains in its early stages, university officials said they have already doubled their original fundraising goal of $100 million because response from donors, including the Ruiz family, has been greater than anticipated. The campaign now has a goal of $200 million, of which almost $73 million has already been raised as of Monday.
In mid-2021, the university received a whopping $20 million donation – the largest single donation in UC Merced’s 17-year history – from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
This story was originally published October 24, 2022 at 2:08 PM.
