Ernest Rady Speech Only

🎥 Jun 06, 2019 📺 UC San Diego Rady School of Management ⏱ 3m 👁 118 views

About Ernest Rady

Ernest Rady, executive chairman of American Assets Trust, has continued his long-standing philanthropic focus on homelessness and education. In November 2024, Rady spoke at an event for the Rady Center, a Salvation Army facility set to break ground in 2025. He expressed admiration for the Salvation Army, stating he knows "no other organization that is so devoted to good" and that he and his wife Evelyn wanted to help the homeless after seeing "people living in tents." He added, "I would love to see the ground broken if I live long enough to see it." The event also featured a testimonial from a program graduate who described becoming unemployed during the pandemic, living in his car, and eventually securing housing through the Salvation Army's STEPS program. Rady has previously made major donations to San Diego institutions, including a $120 million pledge to Rady Children's Hospital in 2014 and a $100 million donation to the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego in 2019. In a 2019 speech at the school, he said he "got more than I gave" and expressed gratitude for how the school added "meaning to our lives." He has also been recognized with an honorary degree from the University of Manitoba and as a 2018 Horatio Alger Award recipient, where he stated, "I always was convinced that you not only take from society you give back to."

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Transcript (1 segments)

Ernest Rady0:01

Well, those are very eloquent presentations. How do I participate with such eloquence? I'll do my best, but it's very difficult. As a matter of fact, the last presentation brought tears to my eyes, and usually I get tears to my eyes when I'm losing money, but so this is different. And I may sound a little strange today, and you may think that it's psychosomatic, he's got a cold because he's giving away money not making it, but that's not the case. I really got a cold. I usually try and tell a joke, but I thought that joke really is not appropriate to today's gathering. What's appropriate for me in today's gathering is to express my gratitude to the school. Now I'm going to choke up. To Dean Sullivan, to all the community, to Pradeep. How do you thank somebody like Dean Sullivan, who gave up a job as the dean of an established school, moves here because he has a vision, works so hard in spite of obstacles to create that vision? The buildings were in... I remember when there was no funding for the buildings, and I was in Sacramento on other business, and who do I discover in some congressman or whatever it is that state legislator's office? Dean Sullivan advocating for the allocation of funds to build this building. He's attracted a group of people to run this school who are so exceptional, and I'd like to give them some gratitude as well. David Scotty, are you here? Will you please stand up? Been here since year one. Alan Timmerman, Alan, are you here? Thank you, Alan. This Krishna Bish, are you here? Thank you, thank you, thank you. Russ Volkanov, thank you, thank you, thank you. Julie Lou, are you here? No, okay, well in absentia, I say thank you. On Amir, are you here? And Clark Johnson. And of course, last but not... and I've left out so many people who have contributed so much to this school. It would not be what it is today without you folks, and without you, Dean Sullivan. I always say that I got more than I gave, and in this case today, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for how you have added to the meaning of our lives. You've done a great deal for us, for our family, for the community. How do you say thank you? I don't know. So thank you.