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Glasser Gift Helps UCI Surpass $2B Fundraising Goal

A significant gift from Laguna Beach businessman and philanthropist Alec Glasser has propelled the University of California, Irvine past a $2 billion fundraising goal months ahead of schedule while ensuring the long-term sustainability of a newly created center dedicated to the power of music and social change.

While the amount of Glasser’s gift was not disclosed, it will be enough to sustain for “decades” the recently established Alec Glasser Center for the Power of Music and Social Change, director of the center Richard Matthew told the Business Journal.

“I expect the center will grow over the next couple of years now that we have this large gift and can do more things going forward,” said Matthew.

A university spokesman said Glasser’s donation “is one of the largest gifts in UCI history.”
Housed in UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology, the Alec Glasser Center for the Power of Music and Social Change aims to teach students how to use music as a force for social good.

Glasser is the founder and owner of The Drake, a restaurant and live jazz lounge in Laguna Beach. He also had a long career as a lawyer and real estate developer prior to opening the restaurant.

Glasser has worked with UC Irvine for “a number of years” when the center was just a concept before receiving approval last year.

“I built up that trust and working relationship with all the people involved,” Glasser told the Business Journal.

“The center has blossomed to a point where it’s doing some really wonderful things in the area of education, research and engagement around the world.”

Glasser last March donated $1.5 million through his restaurant’s nonprofit The Drake Gives, which helped establish the center. Part of the gift created a scholarship fund for students from any major that plan to infuse music in their future careers.

This year, 10 inaugural “Glasser scholars” each received $10,000 scholarships.

$2B Brilliant Future Campaign Set to Conclude This October

The gift also helped UC Irvine reach its $2 billion fundraising goal for its Brilliant Future campaign ahead of its deadline this coming October, which coincides with the university’s 60th anniversary.

UC Irvine launched the Brilliant Future campaign in 2019, making it the most ambitious fundraising effort in the university’s history. So far, there’s been more than 113,000 donors.
More than $180 million in funds have gone toward creating over 250 new scholarships, fellowships and student awards.

Part of the proceeds funded five new buildings including the Falling Leaves Foundation Medical Innovation Building, Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care and Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The campaign’s largest gift to date was a $200 million donation from Susan and Henry Samueli, who have been longtime supporters of the school.

Their gift helped establish the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, which the university bills as the nation’s first university-based health sciences institution to integrate holistic and integrative approaches in research, teaching and patient care.

The five-story, 110,000-square-foot college was completed in 2022 and houses the School of Medicine, the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute.

Debut Course

During the current winter quarter, the Glasser Center debuted its first course titled the “Power of Music and Social Change.” It teaches students about music beyond entertainment and how it can be used as a tool for social change.

The course is based on the science of music and studies on music in relation to neurological development, education and social justice.

The growing use of music therapy as a solution to stress and anxiety is one example of the critical role music can play in people’s lives, said Matthew, who is also a professor of urban planning and public policy at UC Irvine.

Matthew, along with other faculty involved in related research, wanted to create a center to accomplish three things: support music programs in Orange County and beyond, research music’s relation to neuroscience, health and social change, and educate students about the potential value of including music in their lives.

Matthew said that Glasser brings “a lot of good insight and advice” as a partner given his business background.

“Alec is a very successful businessperson,” Matthew said. “He’s not only passionate about music and about what the science of music is revealing, but he’s also focused on making sure that his gift is used as efficiently as possible.”

There are about 150 students enrolled in the center’s courses, as well as 350 students enrolled in a free program offered at Samueli Academy in Santa Ana.

The center is also partnered with Playing for Change, an organization that produces music and has a nonprofit dedicated to building music and art schools for children around the world.

Through this partnership, the Glasser Center will act as a research wing for the organization and will study the impact of these music programs on education attainment.
The center in total counts around 25 faculty from different subjects, ranging from public health to psychological science.

It plans on turning the power of music course into a minor for students, as well as eventually making the course material available online to make it accessible to “everybody in the world,” according to Matthew.

New York Native

Glasser, a New York native, was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens by a working-class family.

He attended Jamaica High School in the south side of Queens, where he discovered his love for music.

Glasser became involved with the jazz band after exploring different extracurriculars.
“When you’re in a school of 5,000 kids in high school and you’re a skinny Jewish kid, you’re not going to make the sports team,” he said.

There, Glasser learned to play saxophone, clarinet and the flute. He began playing gigs at upscale resorts and was on track to pursuing music professionally until his dad told him that he needed to get a job to pay for college.

“He said to me, ‘This is over,’” Glasser said.

Glasser’s dad then helped him get a job as an elevator operator and bellman at the Drake Hotel where he worked for three summers.

The Drake eventually was sold in 2006 and demolished to make way for a residential skyscraper, but the memories of his time there remained with him to the point that he named his OC fine dining restaurant after the hotel.

“We picked the name because the Drake had such a big influence on my life,” he said.
Glasser’s business career began after he graduated from college in 1968 amid the Vietnam War.

To get deferment from the draft, he attended the University of Southern California’s law school and went on to practice law, specializing in real estate and securities.

He then served as a faculty member at USC for a few years before transitioning into real estate development.

In 2021, Glasser founded the Drake Gives nonprofit through a partnership with Save the Music Foundation to provide funding for public school music education in underserved schools.

It has raised $600,000 in the last three years and provided music instruction and instruments to about 15,000 students in Orange County, mainly in Anaheim.

The Secret Life of an Elevator Boy

Alec Glasser’s teen adventures as an elevator operator and bellman at the Drake Hotel in the 1960s included encounters with celebrities and sleepovers in fancy hotel rooms.

“I essentially lived in this Park Avenue Hotel, which was very exciting and led to some after-hour parties in the presidential suite,” Glasser told the Business Journal.

The hotel opened in 1928 and was the go-to haven for years for the who’s who of New York, including actress Judy Garland and musician Jimi Hendrix.

Glasser, who lived in Queens, was just 17 years old when he got the job. His shifts often ended at 3 a.m.

His mom didn’t want him to take the subway home from Manhattan at such late hours, so Glasser convinced the general manager to let him stay in an unoccupied room in exchange for being on-call 24/7 when needed.

Another highlight of his tenure: meeting boxing legend Muhammad Ali, a frequent guest.

Glasser said they developed a good relationship and would often shadow box together.

“When you meet the champ, you don’t forget it,” he said.

Ali had just won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 and changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam.

“It was very tense,” Glasser said. “There was a lot of public anti-sentiment against his Black Muslim direction, so I learned a little bit about that from him.”

Glasser also became acquainted with Sammy Davis Jr. while he stayed at the hotel.

Besides running errands for Davis, Glasser used to sneak in the Rat Pack entertainer’s then-girlfriend, who was white, into the service elevator to avoid publicity.

Glasser spent three summers at the Drake until he reached a crossroads in his life.

He was debating on whether to go back to school and finish out his senior year or stay at the hotel and continue making money.

During his fateful last week, he was taking three hotel guests down the elevator when the brakes failed, and they crashed 22 floors down into the basement.

Everyone ended up fine, but Glasser felt it was a sign to pack up his belongings and leave.

“I think there’s a message there: The gig is over,” he said.

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Yuika Yoshida
Yuika Yoshida
Yuika Yoshida has been a reporter covering healthcare, innovation and education at the Orange County Business Journal since 2023. Previous bylines include JapanUp! Magazine and Stu News Laguna. She received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. During her time at UC Irvine, she was the campus news editor for the official school paper and student writer for the Samueli School of Engineering. Outside of writing, she enjoys musical theater and finding new food spots within Orange County.
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