San Diego State University has announced a $1 million planned gift from longtime faculty member Sandra Wawrytko and the Charles Wei-hsun Fu Foundation in support of SDSU’s Center for Asian and Pacific Studies (CAPS).

The gift will support an endowment for CAPS, providing additional funding for operations, scholarships, and events and programming. Wawrytko, who teaches Asian philosophy at the College of Arts and Letters, has been a faculty member for more than 40 years and directed the center for seven years. The family foundation is named for her late husband, who was born in Taiwan and died in 1997, and the commitment will come from the future sale of a home she owns in the Sorrento Valley area.

“I can tell from my own experience as director of the center that the students want to learn more about their culture,” said Wawrytko. “And students from other backgrounds may have close relationships with people who are Asian American and they want to learn more. They want to make those connections.”

“As a faculty member, Sandra understands the importance of stable funding for ongoing student programming, events, and experiential learning such as study abroad,” said College of Arts and Letters interim dean Ronnee Schreiber. “We know her transformational planned gift will eventually establish CAPS as a leading center of its kind.”

(Photo credit: SDSU)