Pasadena CA. One of world's premier science and engineering universities (~2,200 students). Manages JPL for NASA. $4.4B endowment (Jun 2024), ~$5B including trust assets. Highest endowment-per-student ratio globally. 52% alternatives (PE/VC, real estate, nat resources, absolute return). New CIO: Ken Lee (Feb 2025, from Children's Health Dallas); prior CIO Scott Richland grew endowment from $1.6B→$4.6B over 14 years. Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) — strong spinout culture. Alumni: Intel founders (Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce connection), Broadcom, numerous JPL spinouts.

LA CA. UCLA Health — largest health system in western US. Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Named for David Geffen ($200M gift). Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine. Strong translational research pipeline to LA biotech.

LA CA. Named for Henry Samueli (Broadcom co-founder, $100M gift). Birthplace of ARPANET Node 1 — first internet message sent Oct 29 1969. Defense/aerospace ties: Northrop, Raytheon, Boeing.

Los Angeles CA. Flagship UC campus for LA metro. $9.1B endowment. $1.8B+ annual research. Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. David Geffen School of Medicine. UCLA Health — largest health system in western US. Anderson School of Management (business). UCLA Tech Incubator — student/faculty startup accelerator. LA's proximity to entertainment, defense, aerospace, and biotech creates unique cross-sector research culture. Northrop Grumman, Boeing, RAND (nearby Santa Monica) are major research partners.

Los Angeles CA. Largest private research university in US by enrollment. $8.1B endowment. USC Stevens Center for Innovation — tech transfer, licensing, startup formation. Strong film/media, engineering, business (Marshall), medicine (Keck). Well-connected LA/SoCal VC ecosystem. Annenberg, Viterbi (engineering), Marshall (business). Notable spinouts: Qualcomm (founded by USC alum Irwin Jacobs — also co-founded with UCSD colleagues).