Giannini book documents family's gifts to UC

A new book with historical and contemporary information related to a generous 1928 gift to UC supporting agricultural economics will be available to the public April 15, according to a UC Davis news release distributed yesterday.

The new publication, titled A.P Giannini and the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, is being sold through the ANR catalog for $50 for softcover and $75 for hardcover.

The Giannini name has been long associated with UC. Amadeo Peter Giannini, founder of the Bank of Italy (which later became the Bank of America), donated $1.5 million to build Giannini Hall for the College of Agriculture at UC Berkeley and to establish the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, according to the release.

Currently, the foundation supports activities in agricultural, resources and environmental economics at UC Davis, Berkeley and Riverside. Research conducted through the foundation has focused on issues such as price instability, management of surplus production, design of marketing institutions, impacts of water development, and competition for water, land and labor.

The new book, edited by UC Davis emeritus professors Warren Johnston and Alex McCalla, contains:

• Proceedings of the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics’ 75th Anniversary Symposium, held in spring 2006
  
  
• Giannini Foundation annals, spanning 1928 to 2009, including membership and leadership information, honors and awards, list of doctoral recipients, and foundation activities and publications
  
  
• Archival materials that document the history of agricultural economics at the University of California, early foundation history, and reflections from oral histories and biographies of selected members
  
  
• A collection of historical documents and news clips associated with the gift to the University of California.

Amadeo Giannini in 1922. (Photo: Wikipedia Commons.)

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