Jerry W. Fielder Award 2015: Kevin Bacon '72

By Margaret Wong

Kevin bacon ’72 has made it his goal to pay forward the generosity he’s received throughout his life. Bacon began his studies at UC Davis with the support of his family and a $150 scholarship from the Cal Aggie Alumni Association. At the time, the scholarship paid for half of his tuition.

“I understand that I didn’t get here by myself,” said Bacon, recipient of the Jerry W. Fielder Memorial Award. “My parents sacrificed to get us into college, and you have to understand that you didn’t do this by yourself. There’s a community of people involved in it.”

Days after graduation, Bacon joined the UC Student Lobby—a first-of-its-kind  organization that served as a voice for UC students at the State Capitol. During his tenure, Bacon helped to allocate millions of dollars for undergraduate courses, teachers and financial aid. He then had a successful career in consulting, working at a number of companies such as PriceWaterhouse- Coopers and IBM.

Bacon joined the UC Davis Foundation Board in 2004 and has served on nine other volunteer boards throughout the university. “The more I got involved, the more I understood that I grew up in an era where the state government provided most of the support of UC Davis,” said Bacon, who, with his wife Kim cred. ‘79, have donated to a number of university programs.

Inspired to raise funds for student support, Bacon took on a primary volunteer  leadership role during UC Davis’ first comprehensive campaign, which surpassed its fundraising goal of inspiring more than 100,000 donors to contribute $1.1 billion to the university. “I hope to have encouraged the next generation of people,” he said, “who will keep UC Davis moving forward.”