Philanthropists Joan and Sanford I. Weill pledged $120 million to UC Davis, marking one of the largest gifts in the university’s history and the biggest ever for veterinary medicine, the university announced. Two‑thirds of the funding will build a new small‑animal teaching hospital to expand clinical capacity and integrate AI and precision medicine; $40 million will support cross‑species research into diseases that affect humans and animals, including cancer and neurological disorders. UC Davis is renaming its veterinary school the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine. The gift is positioned to boost translational research and allow more clinical trials that leverage veterinary models to inform human treatments — an increasingly prominent interdisciplinary research strategy. For higher‑ed leaders, the gift underscores philanthropy’s role in enabling capital projects and research initiatives that may be challenging to fund through tuition or state support alone.