UC Irvine establishes Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health

The University of California Irvine will establish the first school of population and public health in Orange County, school officials announced Thursday after receiving approval from the UC Board of Regents.

It will bear the name of the Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health, recognizing a $50-million donation made by Wen and his family to the university.

“When we created the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, UC Irvine committed to elevating all of our health science programs to full schools,” said Howard Gillman, the chancellor of the university. “I am delighted that the regents have completed the final piece of that promise.”

The Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences also encompasses the Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing, the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, the school of medicine, and the school of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences.

Plans to put the gift to use include the establishment of two endowments. The lion’s share of the gift — $42.5 million — will go toward priorities set forth for the new public health school, which becomes the fourth within the UC system. The remaining funds will help move forward cardiological studies and clinical operations, both at the school of medicine and within the UCI Health system.

The cardiology division of the school of medicine at UC Irvine will be named after Wen’s parents, Mary and Steve. The cardiovascular center at UCI Medical Center in Orange will also be renamed in honor of Wen’s grandfather, Tsai Ya Au.

“Our family’s commitment to advancing healthcare and education has always been a core value,” Wen said. “We are honored to support UC Irvine in its mission to improve healthcare and advance teaching and research, continuing a legacy of care and compassion for future generations.”

The Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health has several departments under its banner, including environmental and occupational health, epidemiology and biostatistics, health, society and behavior, and population health and disease prevention. Students can enroll in nine degree programs.

The university, which has 57 public health faculty members, has a research operating budget of $38 million.

“The support of the University of California in making our program a school and now this incredibly generous gift from Joe C. Wen will elevate our profile nationally among schools and programs of public health,” said Bernadette Boden-Albala, founding dean of the Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health. “The hard work and dedication of our faculty, staff and students and the entire campus in becoming a school are further being recognized through this transformative gift.”

Wen and his family also donated $20 million in 2022 to UCI Health, leading to the opening of an outpatient facility in Irvine. The Joe C. Wen Family Center for Advanced Care opened with an on-campus location in April.

After immigrating from Taiwan as a teenager, Wen earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and an MBA from USC. He currently runs Formosa Ltd., an international conglomerate and real estate developer with business holdings spanning several industries.