During the early chapters of our nearly 40-year history, philanthropy played a limited role in La Jolla Institute for Immunology’s (LJI) revenue model.
While LJI scientists were already making bold, field-shaping discoveries, the scale and speed of their work remained vulnerable to the constraints of traditional funding sources.
About a decade ago, then- President and Chief Scientific Officer Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., a globally celebrated immunologist whose own research has shaped the field, recognized that sustaining and expanding this caliber of research would require intentional and strategic philanthropic giving. With the backing of the Institute’s Board of Directors, Dr. Kronenberg made a decisive investment in LJI’s future: channeling a deliberate share of institutional focus and resources into integrating philanthropy into the Institute’s long-term strategy by creating and building out the Advancement Department.
As part of this effort, Dr. Kronenberg recruited now-Vice President of Advancement Kelsey Dale. She joined LJI in 2016 to strategically grow the Institute’s philanthropic enterprise. Under her leadership, the Institute has cultivated a robust community of donors who have generously contributed tens of millions of dollars in collective private support.
Today, LJI is deeply grateful for its growing network of philanthropic partners across the country and around the globe.
Among the most powerful outcomes of this growing momentum has been the establishment of the Institute’s endowment.
What is an endowment, and why does it matter?
An endowment is a permanent fund invested to generate income for an institution year after year. At LJI, that income has been allocated by donors to support core priorities, such as faculty recruitment, scientific leadership, and emerging research technologies.
Endowed funds are one of the most powerful tools available to research institutions like LJI. As a permanent source of funding, an endowment allows the Institute to plan ahead, swiftly pursue new opportunities, and sustain excellence in an ever-shifting funding landscape. In a research environment often shaped by rigid grant cycles and fluctuating government priorities, an endowment offers both stability and agility. It empowers LJI to chart its own course and pursue bold research that might otherwise go unexplored.
The first steps: a legacy of leadership
LJI’s endowment journey began in earnest in 2016 with the establishment of the Johnson Endowed Leadership Fund. Spearheaded by Franklin “Pitch” Johnson and Catherine Johnson, this seven-figure commitment was designed to give the Institute’s President the ability to pursue unanticipated but promising scientific opportunities.
Pitch Johnson is one of biotech’s most iconic venture capitalists, a co-founder of Asset Management Company, and an early backer of Amgen. He understood that transformative science often depends on early, flexible investment.
As part of his original commitment, Pitch Johnson included an endowment-matching component to invite others to join him in building a foundation for scientific leadership at LJI. In 2021, LJI Board Member Richard “Dick” S. Bodman, MSIM, BSE, CPA, and Karna S. Bodman answered that call by establishing the Bodman Leadership Fund to match half of the Johnsons’ investment. The other half came from the Jaime z”l and Sylvia Liwerant Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation, led by Sylvia Liwerant to honor the life of her late husband. Her gift established The Liwerant Family Endowed Research Technology Fund in memory of Jaime Liwerant z”l, designated to support high-impact scientific-equipment investments across LJI.
A new era of endowed vision
Endowment momentum has continued into 2025. Board Member Tom Tullie, MBA, and Judy Tullie established The Tullie Family Endowed Nexus Fund in February to support LJI’s shared research core facilities. These centralized technology hubs power every lab at LJI, as well as labs across the Torrey Pines Research Mesa and those far beyond. The research cores are essential for speed, collaboration, and innovation, and this new fund ensures the Institute can continue to invest in talent and technology when the need is most urgent.
Matching opportunity for the future
To further accelerate growth, an LJI Board member and their family launched a $750,000 endowment match in the summer of 2025. With this opportunity, a new generation of philanthropic partners is invited to invest in LJI’s long-term future. Every new gift to the Institute’s endowment is being matched, dollar for dollar, up to $750,000.
As of July 31, 2025, this opportunity has already inspired new gifts from the following supporters:
- LJI Board Member Barbara Donnell, MA;
- Katya and James Hazel;
- Kaitlin Hewell;
- Eleanor Mosca;
- Joshua M. Nelson;
- Raydene and Peter St. Clair
— and more are expected to follow.
