University of California, Berkeley has announced a $10.5 million estate gift from alumnus Steven Sidener (’82) in support of the Department of Economics.

The bequest will establish the Steven Sidener Graduate Support Fund, which will help fund the graduate program, including student fellowships and research. Sidener, who passed away in August 2020 at the age of 62, was a partner in the law firm of Gold Bennett Cera & Sidener LLP. At UC Berkeley, Sidener studied economics under Nobel Laureate and economics professor George Akerlof and often spoke about the impact of Akerlof’s work on his own perspective.

“It was there [in the Department of Economics] that he found his place in the world,” said his close friend and estate executor, Lynda Kanzler. “It was Steve’s hope that his generous gift would allow other promising college students to be able to attend Cal and, in particular, the Department of Economics.”

“To the best of my knowledge, this is the largest single gift that the Department of Economics has ever received,” said Shachar Kariv, the Benjamin N. Ward Professor of Economics and Department Chair. “This funding will allow us to be more competitive with other top-ranked schools to recruit the very best students while continuing to support our current PhD student body.”

(Photo credit: Gettyimages / Russaquarius)