UC Davis receives $50 million pledge from Resnicks, owners of The Wonderful Co.

University of California Davis said today that it received a $50 million pledge from Lynda and Stewart Resnick, owners of food and agriculture giant The Wonderful Co., to establish a research facility to be known as the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation.

The pledge is the largest individual gift in the university's history, UC Davis said.

Along with establishing the research center, it will also fund $10 million in annual research grants.

The Resnick Center is expected to include a 40,000-square-foot, LEED-certified complex of classrooms, lab space, research facilities and student support offices. It will be located off Hutchinson Drive in Davis, close to the university's existing plant sciences building.

The Wonderful Co. is one of the largest privately held companies in the nation, with products including pistachios, pomegranate juice and Landmark Wines. The Wonderful Co. also bottles FIJI Water, owns the Teleflora floral company. Wonderful also invests in real estate, including properties in the Sacramento region. Wonderful Co. is based in Los Angeles.

The Resnick Center's innovation goals include research toward water use and energy efficiency, crop resiliency and expanded food access, in addition to other goals related to sustainability and fighting climate change.

The Resnicks were not present at the announcement event at UC Davis due to an air traffic delay related to President Joe Biden's Southern California visit. They were represented at the event by Andy Anzaldo, the Wonderful Co.'s chief operating officer of philanthropy, who read remarks on behalf of Stewart Resnick.

"The relationship between the Wonderful Co. and UC Davis goes back over 40 years. We share a passion for progress at the intersection of agriculture, science and sustainability, working together through research and its practical application in our fields," said Anzaldo. "We are racing to make crops more productive, using fewer resources, and feeding the world.

The Resnicks have also pledged $750 million to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena for the Resnick Sustainability Center, which broke ground in May.

UC Davis views the pledge by the Resnicks as supporting its goal to further its role in agricultural innovation.

"We're number one in the U.S. in agriculture and number two in the world currently. We expect to continue to maintain that status, but not just for the accolades ⏤ because we want to do service for the planet; we want to provide," UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May told the Business Journal. "We want to feed the growing planet and provide nutritional and sustainable products for that purpose."