Honoring Our Past and Inspiring Our Future

The Caltech Associates mark their centennial with a yearlong celebration and a new fundraising initiative that honors the founders' legacy.

In the spring of 1926, railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington welcomed Southern California's most influential men and women to his San Marino estate to help catapult Caltech as a national leader in research and discovery. At the time, the newly renamed California Institute of Technology comprised just three academic departments: engineering, physics, and chemistry. All were located on a campus with only five buildings. That evening would become the inaugural meeting of the Caltech Associates—100 founding benefactors contributing $1,000 annually for 10 years to secure the Institute's future.

The leadership group quickly outgrew Huntington's living room. Inspired by astronomer and Caltech Trustee George Ellery Hale's vision for a gathering place similar to The Athenaeum of London, fellow Associate and Trustee Allan Balch and his wife, Janet, provided the funds for the construction of The Athenaeum. In January 1931, the Associates held their first event at the now iconic building, which would serve both as a gathering place for their members and the Institute's faculty and staff. Headlined by world-famous visiting professor Albert Einstein, the formal dinner also featured two other Nobel laureate physicists: Robert Andrews Millikan, then Caltech's president, and Albert Michelson.

100 Years On, 100 New Benefactors

Today, as in the early days, it's not uncommon for Associates to mingle freely with Nobel laureates. Forty-eight members of the Caltech community have received this honor, most recently chemist Richard Robson as well as physicist John Hopfield in 2024 and chemical engineer Frances Arnold in 2018. In a nod to the organization's seminal moments, on April 10, 2026, Caltech's benefactors will gather again at the Huntington for a black-tie dinner and reception. The evening will feature leading researchers in their fields, along with a new generation of philanthropic leaders who are now part of the Associates 100 Legacy Circle.

Like the founding Associates, the Legacy Circle is limited to 100 individuals or households. Each has committed to provide $150,000 over 10 years in discretionary philanthropic support, which affords approximately the same purchasing power as the original gifts made in 1926.

Leading up to the spring gala, the Associates will participate in other celebratory events, including Igniting Discovery on October 30. Sergio Pellegrino, the Joyce and Kent Kresa Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering and director of GALCIT, will be joined by John Dabiri, Centennial Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering, and Mike Watkins, professor of aerospace and geophysics, to discuss their research demonstrating the feasibility of transferring power from orbiting solar panels to earth-based receivers as an example of the Institute's ongoing contributions in engineering and aerospace.

Meet Four Associates 100 Legacy Circle Members

Bruce Nickerson is a retired pediatric pulmonologist and the current president of the Associates Board. He and his wife, Beverly, grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, though neither attended the Institute. Bruce is a Princeton graduate who received his medical degree from UCLA. Beverly earned her nursing credentials at the University of Arizona. Still, both are longtime Caltech supporters and, now, members of the new Legacy Circle.

It was Bruce's father, Douglas Nickerson (BS '40), who brought them into the fold. After graduating from Caltech, Douglas stayed in Pasadena and pursued a 60-year career in mechanical engineering. He joined the Associates in 1969, later serving as a board member. In 2001, Douglas sponsored Bruce and Beverly's membership, and when Douglas passed in 2003, the younger Nickersons continued their Associates affiliation. Over the past quarter century, they've participated in more than 150 group activities, including a Grand Canyon Colorado River rafting adventure that Beverly calls "the trip of our lifetime."

Bruce's mother, Betty, had shared her husband's love of the Institute and instilled it in her children and grandchildren. When Bruce was a teenager, Caltech students started showing up at Betty's Sunday family dinners. As word spread that "the food was good," more students asked to bring a friend to the Nickersons' weekly feast. "This went on for 30 years," Bruce recalls.

Today, Bruce observes, the Associates centennial comes at an opportune moment. "Philanthropy is more urgently needed than ever," he says. "It's important for Caltech to have unrestricted funds that it can channel in the most needed direction. Caltech will spend your philanthropy dollars with more positive impact on the world than almost any other institution."

Betty and Shang-Li "SL" Huang (MS '69, PhD '76) are also members of the Associates 100 Legacy Circle. Betty is a retired bank executive, and SL is an engineer-turned-real estate entrepreneur. The Huangs have been actively engaged with the Associates for more than 20 years. Both have served on the advisory board, with Betty ending her second term as board president in 2023.

Over the years, the Huangs have participated in some 140 Associates events. Betty's hands-down favorite is the annual JPL tour. "You get to see behind the scenes, talk to the scientists, and listen to their presentations. It's eye-opening and different every year," she says. Avid world travelers, the Huangs have journeyed to France, Italy, Spain, and Vietnam with the Associates. They felt lucky to have joined the popular 2024 Galápagos trip, as they'd been wait-listed a few years earlier. "This time we got it!" Betty says, triumphantly.

While the Huangs enjoy the intellectual rigor, they love to travel with Associates because of the people. "It's not just about science and technology," says Betty. "Members are so interested in history, so willing to learn, so willing to explore."

Being part of the Legacy Circle is meaningful to the Huangs. "The Associates have done so much for Caltech in a hundred years," adds Betty. "We are very impressed and very grateful. This is the best we can do to continue that legacy."

An Enduring Legacy

Institutional progress can take different shapes and forms.

Over the past century, the Caltech Associates have contributed more than $73 million in unrestricted annual membership gifts and more than $2.5 billion to support facilities, faculty, and students. These funds have helped to advance research and high-risk innovations, erect 37 campus buildings, endow 52 professorships, and pay for hundreds of fellowships and scholarships.

Charis Hall is a direct beneficiary of this generosity. A third-year student in astrophysics originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Hall is the recipient of a Caltech Associates scholarship.

"Ever since I was a young girl, I knew I wanted to study the stars," she says. "But I didn't know if this would be possible for someone like me, coming from a low-income background. I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today without the support of the Caltech Associates program." Upon graduation, Hall plans to pursue a PhD in astrophysics and ultimately become a researcher and professor, educating the next generation of scientists.

With more than 1,600 Associates, the program ensures Caltech scientists at all levels have the chance to take risks and make transformative discoveries. And unlike other university support organizations, only about 20 percent of Associates are alumni.

"The vast majority of our members are friends and neighbors in the community—people who want to support the research we do here," says Diane Binney, assistant vice president for philanthropic initiatives and stewardship. "There are many ways to make the world better through science. To be an Associate is to belong to a group of like-minded individuals who believe in, and support, the Institute's mission."