High-achieving students, CSUSB library benefit from estate plan of founding family

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A multi-million dollar estate gift will benefit the top college-bound students from the Inland Empire and beyond with full scholarships at Cal State San Bernardino.

The contribution will be made through the John M. Pfau Family Scholarship Endowment, which has been established in honor of the university's founding president.

The leading contributions to the endowment are a set of testamentary gifts from John and Antreen Pfau, Elly Pfau, and Madelaine Pfau and her husband, Charles Jones. The gift's total value exceeds $12 million, with nearly $10.8 million designated for scholarships for high-achieving college students and $1.2 million to benefit the Pfau Library at Cal State San Bernardino.

The scholarship funds will be awarded to students who qualify for the President's Academic Excellence Scholarship program, which currently provides a $5,000 annual scholarship to Cal State San Bernardino students who attended San Bernardino County high schools and graduated in the top one percent of their class.

The scholarships provide full coverage for fees and books, as well as a small stipend, for up to four years. There are 118 students on campus currently under the President's Academic Excellence Scholarship program. The Pfau Family Endowment also will extend benefits to community college transfer students as well as post-baccalaureate students who meet criteria requirements.

"This planned gift from the Pfau family is exactly the kind of foresight and vision that will have an immense impact upon the educated workforce and, therefore, the economic, social and cultural development of our region," CSUSB President Albert Karnig said. "We are deeply grateful to the Pfau family for its commitment to ensuring that the best and brightest stay in the Inland Empire to become educated and contribute to the quality of life here."

Acknowledging the Pfau family's dedication to education, John Pfau said, "The value of an education cannot be overestimated. For the young it means enriched lives as well as improved career opportunities. For the Inland Empire it provides leaders in business, civic and cultural affairs. Everyone benefits."

He added, "San Bernardino is fortunate to have such a fine university in the region. It deserves community support."

Having spent their formative years in San Bernardino, Elly and Madelaine Pfau know the impact that higher education and the presence of the Cal State San Bernardino campus has had on the Inland Empire since CSUSB opened in 1965.

"The standard of excellence modeled at Cal State San Bernardino for more than 43 years has been instrumental in transforming the lives of so many citizens in the region," Elly said.

Madelaine added, "We could not think of a better way in which to inspire talented young adults to continue to grow intellectually and contribute meaningfully to the area they call home."

Funds from the estate gift that will be directed to the John M. Pfau Library will be used for materials collection. The university's library opened in 1971 and was named after the founding president upon his retirement. John Pfau served as president of Cal State San Bernardino from 1962 to 1982.

"The need for new library materials - both to refresh the collection and to replace old and outmoded books, audiovisual media and electronic databases - is constant and new funding sources must be found to augment state support," said Cesar Caballero, dean of the Pfau Library. "The Pfau family is once again leading the way in demonstrating the significant difference that private support can make in the educational experience for our students."

Pfau and his wife, Antreen, continued to live in San Bernardino for 17 years after he retired. In 1999, they relocated to Napa, where they both just celebrated their 90th birthdays at a gathering of CSUSB alumni, staff and retirees.

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