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AN ENDURING COMMITMENT TO COLLEGE AND COMMUNITYThe Sikand family honored Gunjit Sikand (center), professor of civil engineering, by establishing the Gunjit S. Sikand Faculty Endowment for Research in Urban Sustainability. Sikand passed away last spring after a long and remarkable career.Civil engineering Professor Gunjit Sikand always believed that California State University, Los Angeles, served a critical need in the community – giving first-generation college students the opportunity to earn the quality education they would need to accomplish their life and career goals. So, when he passed away last spring after a long and remarkable career as a business owner, teacher, and philanthropist, his family wanted to bothpay tribute to their beloved husband and father and benefit the educational community he loved.This April, the university announced the Gunjit S. Sikand Faculty Endowment for Research in Urban Sustainability – a $1 million gift from the The Sikand Foundation, which was established by Gunjit and Margarete Sikand in 1988 to provide care, education, and humanitarian services to those in need. The endowment will fund faculty research on urban sustainability in the Los Angeles County region.“The endowment will be used in perpetuity to subsidize a portion of a faculty member’s time, allowing him or her to focus on research,” says Mark Sikand, Gunjit’s son and president of Sikand Engineering Associates, the company his father founded in 1958. “There are many talented faculty members whom I think Cal State L.A. would be well-served by retaining. By providing them with the time and resources to conduct research, we help keep them on campus and provide opportunities for students as well.”Together, the Sikand family and the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology chose urban sustainability as the focus of the gift because it is oneof the most important issues in Los Angeles County,the region Sikand Engineering Associates has helped grow and develop for more than 56 years.“Faculty and students are very interested in contributingto urban sustainability solutions,” says Emily Allen, deanof the College. “The next generation is deeply concerned about how we will survive as the climate changes, and we’re focused on how we can make Los Angeles Countya model for sustainable development. We are currently in discussions across campus to create an Institute for Urbanfff2