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Philanthropist Named Honorary Alumna
updated: Oct 29, 2012, 5:48 PM
Source: UCSB
As a youngster struggling to keep up with her classmates learning to read and
spell, Brigit Ferguson's frustration found focus when she was diagnosed with
dyslexia. The revelation, and the support she received as a result, allowed her
to not only catch up -- but to excel.
A current doctoral candidate at UC Santa Barbara, Ferguson is still excelling
today. And she's giving great credit for her success to a prominent local
philanthropist, Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, whose scholarship endowment for just
such students afforded her academic opportunities that may have been otherwise
impossible.
Lady Ridley-Tree, co-chair of the Campaign for UC Santa Barbara, and a trustee
of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation -- whose generosity to the campus also
includes support for Arts & Lectures and the Department of Music -- is a
longtime benefactor of the university.
Now the campus is giving back. Lady Ridley-Tree has been named an honorary
alumna of UCSB -- only the 50th individual to be so lauded since the school's
1944 establishment as a University of California campus.
"I thank you, university. I thank you all. I thank life for the privilege that
I've had to be able to give," Ridley-Tree said during a special induction
ceremony. "For me to have this degree, at this point in my life, is so
overwhelming, you cannot imagine. Everything I've done in life has been because
a door has opened, and there seemed to have been a need, and I walked through
it. How blessed I feel, how joyous I feel."
Chancellor Henry T. Yang paid tribute to Lady Ridley-Tree in his remarks,
describing her as "a world citizen, and a local citizen, who truly represents
the spirit of Santa Barbara."
"Your vision, your leadership in philanthropy, your leadership in everything, as
well as your passion for the arts, and for life, make you one of the most
respected citizens of our community," said Chancellor Yang. "Tonight, we would
not dare to think that we are honoring you. You, by accepting this honorary
degree, by agreeing to be an honorary alumna -- we feel that you have honored
us. The university is being honored tonight."
The distinction of honorary alumni is the most prestigious award given by the
UCSB Alumni Association. The equivalent of an honorary degree, it is reserved
for "people who have made significant, important contributions to the university
and the Santa Barbara community," said Dick Breaux, president of the
association's board. "It welcomes a very special few into the Gaucho family."
Among those who have also received the award are past Chancellor Vernon Cheadle
and his wife, Mary, as well as philanthropists Michael Towbes, and Virgil and
Betty Elings.
That "special few" now includes Lady Ridley-Tree, who Breaux commended for her
visionary philanthropy and "her commitment to educating citizens for California
and a global society, evident in the many scholarships she has endowed at UC
Santa Barbara, which help make higher education accessible to outstanding
students with need."
Students such as the Ph.D hopeful Ferguson, who hasn't let her dyslexia impede
her pursuit of a doctorate in the history of art and architecture -- or her
dream of academia. If anything, she said, it's helped her. Now completing her
dissertation on 13th century German sculpture, Ferguson was on hand at Lady
Ridley-Tree's induction, offering personal thanks to the benefactor whose
eponymous scholarship she has received four times.
"While many people seem to think that a learning disability means I should seek
a non-academic career, Lady Leslie has recognized that there are those of us
with learning disabilities who thrive despite -- and, perhaps, even partly
because of -- them," Ferguson said. "While Lady Leslie's financial support has
allowed me to carry out essential research that I might not otherwise have been
able to, it is so much more meaningful to me because she has recognized those of
us who have to work a little harder to succeed."
Speaking directly to Lady Ridley-Tree, Ferguson added, "It strikes me as
wonderfully appropriate that you, who have helped me and other present and
future UCSB alum and alumnae, join our ranks. We will always be grateful."
Lady Ridley-Tree attended Columbia University, the University of Madrid, and the
University of West Los Angeles. For seven years, she was director of a community
center on New York City's Westside, and established the first Head Start
program, as well as the Bridge Academy for teens expelled from public school.
Currently, she is CEO and chair of Pacific Air Industries in Santa Monica, and a
trustee of the Ridley-Tree Foundation. She and her husband, Lord Paul Ridley-
Tree, shared the Philanthropist of the Year Award, presented by the National
Society of Fund Raising Executives in 1994; and the Santa Barbara News-Press
Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.
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