The UCLA Foundation has elected Laurie Gordon and Todd Katz to its board of directors. Their terms began on July 1.
The board is a volunteer-led group of elected members, ex-officio and staff who serve as key advisors to the university and champion philanthropy across campus. It provides oversight for the UCLA Investment Company, which manages the foundation’s endowment and assets and annually determines the payout rate for endowed funds to campus units.
Laurie Gordon has a long history of philanthropic engagement and has been an active UCLA partner for more than a decade. In memory of her son, Max, she established the Max Gray Fund for the Treatment of Mood Disorders at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior in 2014. The fund supports postdoctoral fellowships from one to three years in the Semel Institute’s mood disorder clinics for children and adolescents as well as adults. In 2018, she and her husband, Steven, created the UCLA Laurie and Steven Gordon Commitment to Cure Parkinson’s Disease at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This initiative provides funding for multidisciplinary research, the establishment of endowed chairs in Parkinson’s-related fields and the development of new imaging facilities to advance treatment.
Gordon, who earned her law degree from Hofstra University School of Law and is former vice president of Warner Bros. International Theatres, also serves on several campus advisory boards. She is chair of the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica board of advisors, the immediate past chair of the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA and is a member of the Operation Mend and Depression Grand Challenge Leadership Council advisory boards.
In recognition of their extraordinary service to the university, the Gordons received the UCLA Fiat Lux Award in 2023.
Gordon is active in the broader community through her involvement with the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Friends of LAPD Youth Programs, where she is a former co-chair.
Todd Katz has decades of experience in commercial real estate and a long-standing commitment to community service. He began his career in brokerage before co-founding Century Park Partners, LLC in 1996, a real estate investment firm specialized in single-tenant, institutional-grade commercial properties across the United States. In 2012, he shifted his focus from business to philanthropy and has since dedicated his time to advancing causes in Los Angeles and at UCLA.
Katz has deep roots in the YMCA, having been involved with the organization since childhood. He currently serves on the Collins & Katz Family YMCA board of managers, co-chairs its community engagement and partnerships committee and directs its summer sleepaway camp. At the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, he sits on the board of directors and chairs both the properties and facilities and camping services committees. He also serves on the organization’s Foster Youth Empowerment Advisory Task Force.
Katz earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from UCLA in 1983 and continues to support the university through volunteer service on several advisory boards. He is a member of the UCLA Health Finance & Audit Committee and serves on the advisory boards of the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he is a past chair. He also serves on Operation Mend’s advisory board, which was founded in 2007 by his parents, Ron and Maddie Katz, to support wounded veterans and their families.
While Gordon and Katz began their terms, Julio Herrera, Diana Ingram and past chair Craig Ehrlich concluded their dedicated leadership to the board on June 30.
Herrera joined the board in 2021 and served for four years. He was an active member of the finance and audit committees and will continue to lend his insight as a member of the UCLA Investment Company board of directors.
Ingram joined the board in 2018 and served as a director for seven years. During her tenure, she served as finance committee chair and contributed her expertise to the finance, audit, and nominations and governance committees.
Ehrlich joined the board in 2015 and served for a decade. He led the board as chair from 2020 to 2022, chaired the nominations and governance committee and served as a member of the finance and philanthropy committees.
