Berkeley sparked an academic fire within Jim. After majoring in political science, he went to Yale Law School and worked as an attorney in civil litigation, antitrust, and media law. “Both schools left me with a sense of public service,” Jim says. “I couldn’t just work for private clients. I had to give back to society.” 

Jim has given back in spades: supporting services for people with disabilities, fighting for laws that prevent gun violence, and serving on the California commission that offers financial aid to students statewide. As for UC Berkeley? “I’m here all the time,” he says. “I go to lectures and sporting events and am involved in various matters.”

In addition to ongoing support for the Bancroft Library’s Tebtunis Papyri collection, Jim and wife Susan, who passed away in 2008, established the Jim T. and Susana C. Fousekis Scholarship Fund in 1996. Jim says students’ greatest challenge is to find themselves. He views the scholarship as a powerful tool for enabling its recipients to develop their interests and talents. To date, the scholarship has been awarded 66 times to 30 students; many students have received it multiple times. 

“I want opportunities to be available for everyone, and I have a passion to make sure that young people have the opportunity to go to Cal and other schools, too,” he says. “That’s the future, and that’s the message of California to the nation.”