Bak ’70, M.B.A. ’79 and Betty Chan
As the first in his family to go to college, Bak Chan appreciates everything that Cal and its world-class reputation gave him. “I’m forever indebted to the students who uphold and enhance the quality of the university. It’s benefited me immensely during my career,” says Bak, who worked as a mechanical engineer before transitioning into financial management after acquiring his MBA degree from Haas. “And now, it’s give-back time.”
Bak and his wife, Betty, endowed a leadership scholarship in 2008 to honor Bak’s parents.
“It was a thrill for my dad to meet the first scholarship recipient a year before his death,” Bak recalls. “That really motivated me to continue to support Cal.”
Since then, the Chans have also supported the Tien Center for East Asian Studies and the Management, Entrepreneurship, & Technology program, the latter offered by Berkeley Haas and the College of Engineering. “It was love at first sight for Bak,” says Betty, noting her husband’s degrees from both schools. “It was the perfect project for us to support.”
Now a semi-retired financial adviser, Bak urges potential donors to look at their finances and think hard about ways that they can support UC Berkeley. “It may be easier than you thought,” he says, “and is definitely a win-win proposition.”
