SOURCE OF WEALTH: Trust Company of the West
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Arts & Culture, Medical & Science Research
OVERVIEW: Robert Day and family conduct philanthropy through the Robert A. Day Foundation, which gave away around $5.3 million in a recent year. Day is a major supporter of his alma mater, private school Claremont McKenna College.
BACKGROUND: Robert Addison Day graduated with a B.S. in economics from Claremont McKenna College in suburban Los Angeles in 1965. In 1971, he founded Trust Company of the West, an asset management firm. He’s been on the Forbes billionaire list in the past.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: Like other Wall Streeters who graduated from Claremont McKenna including Henry Kravis, Day is also a major patron of the small liberal arts school outside of Los Angeles. He made a $200 million gift to the school, creating the Robert Day Scholars Program, a “unique academic program that builds upon the best elements of an undergraduate liberal arts education with state-of-the-art curricula in finance, accounting, and organizational leadership.” Day continues to support his alma mater, whose board he once chaired. Through the W.M. Keck Foundation, which was founded by Day’s grandfather William Myron Keck, he’s supported the The Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies of Claremont McKenna College. A number of Day family members are involved in leadership with the W.M. Keck Foundation. Other grantees have included Cate School, Arizona State University Foundation, USC, and UCLA Foundation.
ARTS & CULTURE: Grantees have included Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress; Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens; George W. Bush Foundation; and Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation.
MEDICAL & SCIENCE RESEARCH: Day and family help lead the W.M. Keck Foundation, one of the nation’s largest charitable foundations which supports scientific, engineering, and medical research in the United States. Through his family foundation, Day has supported places like Israel Cancer Research Fund and Stop Cancer.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Day’s work in higher education to continue in particular.
CONTACT:
The Robert A. Day Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family ,but below is an address:
Robert A. Day Foundation
865 S. Figueroa St., No. 700
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 891-6300
