Ernest Rady, a San Diego businessman, has given $30 million to the University of California at San Diego's School of Management, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The donation — the second largest in the university's forty-four-year history — was hailed by Robert Sullivan, the founding dean of the business school, as a landmark gift that will move the school "from inspired dreams into reality." The gift from Rady and the Rady Family Foundation enables the school to stay on track with plans to enroll its first full-time MBA students in the fall of 2005 and to raise $120 million in private donations by 2010.

Rady, who has kept a low profile in San Diego despite a personal fortune valued at $1.5 billion, is chairman and chief executive of Westcorp, a financial services company headquartered in Irvine. He started giving money to UCSD two years ago, but the $30 million gift is his first major contribution to the university.

"People ask me, why UCSD?" said Rady, who has no direct tie to the university. "I know that any program launched at UCSD will be among the best. Hopefully this school will allow others to enhance our country's economy and success."