College Support
Knutson Gives Back to Agriculture Students
David Knutson, '53, always
wanted to be a farmer,
but once he got there, he
found it wasn't for him.
A decade after graduating
from the College of
Natural Resources with a
degree in agricultural science,
Knutson bought 600
acres of sod farmland outside
Riverside. "I wasn't
having too much fun," he
decided three or four years
later, and sold the farm.
The experience was a brief
but meaningful interlude
in Knutson's life; without it,
he wouldn't be able to say today that he'd met all his goals.
But he has, and then some. As president of Stover Seed
Company, which he's owned since 1972, Knutson is practicing
just what his CNR classes prepared him to do. Now
he is supporting some of today's Agriculture and Resource
Economics students as they do the same.
"I wanted to help students who have an interest in agriculture,"
he said. "I felt that the College of Natural Resources
really helped me focus my attention on what I wanted to be
in agriculture and in business." Knutson himself attended
Cal with some financial support, motivating him to establish
the David Knutson Scholarship Fund in 2005. "I want students
to have the same opportunities that I had."
Knutson was raised in the Central Valley farming town of
Patterson, where his uncles grew beans, tomatoes, and
alfalfa. He worked with them throughout high school and
college, but after graduating he was drafted, and served two
years in the Army. Upon his return he found work in the field
seed business, and four jobs later made the move to Stover,
which he built into an international company selling lawn,
flower, vegetable, and native plant seeds.
Knutson's most recent gift to augment the David Knutson
Scholarship Fund was through an IRA Charitable Rollover.
Legislation on the rollover, which has been repeatedly
extended and is in place for 2011, allows individuals 70½
and older to make income tax-free contributions from
retirement funds to 501(c)(3) organizations such as
UC Berkeley.
Knutson, who has made gifts totaling $45,000 for his
endowed scholarship fund, also gives to intercollegiate athletics,
the California Alumni Association, and other Cal programs.
"I have a great fondness for UC Berkeley," he said.
Making the Most of Charitable Rollovers
The IRA Charitable Rollover allows individuals age 70½ and older to make direct transfers totaling up to $100,000 per year ($200,000 for federally recognized married couples if each spouse has his or her own plan) to 501(c)(3) charities, without having to count the transfers as income for federal income tax purposes. A donor can name a fund and choose its purpose with a gift of $50,000.
Transfers must be made directly from a traditional or Roth IRA account by your plan provider to the charity and can be used to satisfy your Minimum Required Distribution. Funds that are withdrawn by you and then contributed do not qualify.
For more details contact Kathryn Moriarty Baldwin: moriartyk@berkeley.edu or (510) 643-6641.
