Jeff and Lisa Harris

Fond memories generate a need to give back

“It's the right thing to do.” We often hear people say that, but what does it really mean? In the case of Jeff and Lisa Harris, it means they understand that UVic students deserve support now and in the future.

Jeff and Lisa are UVic alumni. He received his MBA in 1995 and she graduated in 1991 with a BA in psychology. Since then, both have gone from strength-to-strength in the business world of California's Silicon Valley. Lisa is the chief financial officer of Venrock Palo Alto, a branch of the venture capital firm founded by the Rockefeller family. Jeff is now a management consultant who guides global organizations through large-scale transformations including change management, human resources training, business process improvement and performance measurement.  

Jeff also taught organizational transformation in the UVic Business School and in 2009 he received our Alumni Award of Excellence for founding a new UVic Alumni Chapter in northern California. He continues to give back by sitting on the International Advisory Board at the Peter S. Gustavson School of Business.  

In a joint statement Jeff and Lisa say, “We both have very fond memories of our time at UVic and wanted to help ensure that others would have the same opportunity going forward.”  So they planned far into the future and decided to leave a bequest in their wills to establish an award for business students at UVic. 

“Education is not often thought of as having a charitable need compared to other worthy and well-known alternatives; however, both of us felt that our contributions to the school would have a tangible and long lasting benefit,” they say. 

For more information on donating to UVic, please contact mgrlegacydev@uvic.ca or 250-721-8967.