Bay Area billionaire gives UC Davis a record-breaking gift after his dog was treated there

The veterinary school at University of California, Davis, will be renamed for Sanford and Joan Weill after the billionaire philanthropists gave it $120 million — the largest gift ever made to veterinary medicine and one of the largest to the university, the school said.

The gift was announced Wednesday, Jan. 28, by UC Davis, which said $80 million of it will go toward a new small-animal teaching hospital.

The Weills live on a Sonoma County estate they bought in 2010, four years after Sanford Weill stepped down as chairman of Citibank. He has been on the board of advisers for UC Davis’ chancellor since 2014.

The couple’s connection with the campus was strengthened when their dog — Angel, a bichon frisé — was treated for lymphoma there in 2018, the school’s press release said. “Angel’s care at UC Davis left a lasting impression on our family,” it quoted Joan Weill as saying.

The Weills have given more than $1.5 billion to educational, medical and cultural institutions, including more than $500 million to the UC system, the announcement said. Among their contributions were those establishing the neuroscience research institute Weill Neurohub — a partnership of UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, the University of Washington and the Allen Institute — and the Weill Cancer Hub West, at UC San Francisco and Stanford University. They have also given substantial gifts to Cornell University, Sanford Weill’s alma mater.

Sanford “Sandy” Weill, 92, worked for decades at a series of investment banks and was Citibank’s chief executive officer from 1998 to 2003. He and Joan Mosher Weill, married 70 years, have two children.