Eli and Edythe Broad

Eli Broad (prounounced "BRODE") built two Fortune 500 companies from the ground up over a five-decade career in business. He is the founder-chairman of both SunAmerica Inc. and KB Home.

Today, he is focused on philanthropy.

Eli and Edythe Broad are longtime supporters of K-12 and higher education, as well as the arts, science, medical research and civic development. Eli Broad is currently working to help Sacramento State develop a campus in Placer County by committing about 300 acres of land in the proposed Placer Ranch project near Roseville. The couple provided a $2 million gift to build a new field house near the stadium -- to be called the Broad Athletic Facility. They have made major contributions to UCLA and CalTech, and Eli Broad is on the board of trustees of CalTech. Broad has also served as chairman of the board of Pitzer College and vice chairman of the board of trustees of the CSU System.

The Broads have established several charitable foundations including the Broad Education Foundation, which supports urban public education; the Broad Art Foundation; and the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation, which created the Broad Medical Research Program to stimulate research on inflammatory bowel disease. The Broads made the founding gift to create The Eli and Edythe Broad Institute for biomedical research, which is a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Whitehead Institute.

Among his many efforts related to the arts, Eli Broad was the founding chairman and is a life trustee of The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and is a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where the Broads have announced a major gift to build The Broad Contemporary Art Museum. Eli Broad and Mayor Richard Riordon led the fundraising efforts to build the acclaimed Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Eli Broad holds a degree in management from Michigan State University, where he graduated cum laude, and has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Southwestern University and Michigan State University. He is on the board of trustees for CalTech and was formerly on the board of Pitzer College.