California Golden Bears Athletics
Charles and Janet King have been avid Cal football fans since 1967.
Photo by: Cal Athletics
Resident Excellence
10/8/2018 9:46 AM | Inside The Lair
This feature originally appeared in the Fall edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
It was 1967 when Janet King first arrived at the University of California from the Midwest in pursuit of a Ph.D. Charles followed in 1969 for an MBA. Both were Vietnam War veterans.
Now in their sixth decade in Berkeley having earned their Cal degrees, raised a family near campus and contributed stellar careers to the community, the Kings' commitment to Cal is cause for celebration following their recent six-figure donation to the football program.
Dr. King is a former chair and a current professor emerita of the Department of Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology at Cal. She also is a current senior scientist emerita at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute. Charles King retired in 1998 as a principal consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in San Francisco. Both expressed their excitement for the 2018 season of Cal football led by head coach Justin Wilcox.
"We don't have to win every game. That's not where our sentiment lies," said Mr. King, who played baseball and football in high school and at Johns Hopkins University. "Our sentiment lies in remaining the best public university in the world. Excellence in athletics is part of that."
Observations at spring football practices left Dr. King confident. "I was impressed by how well-organized they were," she said. "It was clear that the whole team was engaged 100 percent of the time."
In talking with Wilcox, the Kings realized a gift to football could assist in myriad ways, including making Cal a more sustainable destination not just for great student-athletes, but also great coaches and staff.
"We've been familiar with that for more than 50 years," Mr. King said of the cost of living in the Bay Area. "We couldn't afford housing here either. That need, added to the possibility of contributing to the success of the program, is what moved us to make this contribution now."
Wilcox and the Golden Bears will continue to rise and compete with the most powerful programs in the country on the field and the recruiting trail, the Kings believe. They see Cal as an ideal destination for extraordinary student-athletes, just as Charles King saw it over 50 years ago as an ideal destination for the future Dr. King.
Charles and Janet first met in the summer of 1966 at the Officers Club on Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, where she was working in the metabolic research unit of Fitzsimons Army Hospital and where he had been sent to attend Air Intelligence School. Charles served in Vietnam in Naval Intelligence, Janet in the Army Medical Services Corps, first at Walter Reed Army Hospital and then at Fitzsimons.
"It was Charlie who encouraged me to go to graduate school and to go to Cal," said Janet, who earned her undergraduate degree at Iowa State. "I told him I was considering Ohio State, to which he replied, 'Well, Ohio State isn't very close to any oceans.' Being in the Navy, that wasn't going to work out too well for him. Also, he knew more about top-tier research institutes, so I came to Cal."
Janet moved to Berkeley to begin graduate school in 1967 and Charles joined her in December of 1967 while home on leave. They were married that Christmas Eve at the Berkeley Covenant Church on Hopkins Street after the 11 p.m. holiday service.
"We didn't have to decorate the church thanks to all the poinsettias," Janet recalled.
The Kings raised two sons, one of whom graduated from Cal and Boston University. The other graduated from Harvard before serving in Iraq and then Georgetown after surviving an IED explosion on a mission from Baghdad to Tikrit.
The Kings' affinity for new Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton, who retired with the rank of colonel from the Army in 2008 after 26 years of service, comes as no surprise.
"I served and my father served," Charles said. "We sent a son off to Iraq. We understand military values and we understand the positive aspects of military service. We think that Jim Knowlton, because of his background, is going to be very positive in demonstrating efficiency, planning, organization and fairness."
The Kings' optimism over Cal's leadership extends from Wilcox and Knowlton to the Office of the Chancellor, where the University is led by a former colleague of Dr. King in Carol Christ. "We served at the same time as chairs of our departments," said Dr. King, who also devoted a year at Cal as an academic advisor to the baseball team.
High achievement has defined Dr. King's research career in the field of nutrition. She is a member of the
National Academy of Medicine and the USDA Research Hall of Fame. Her administrative roles include executive director of the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, chair of Nutritional Sciences at Cal, and director of the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis. She also chaired the U.S. Department of Agriculture/U.S. Health and Human Services Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board, and many national and international nutrition policy committees. She has published hundreds of scientific papers, articles and book chapters while training scores of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists.
"Cal is the top public university in the world, without a doubt, but this status is difficult to sustain," Dr. King said. "Adequate finances are a major challenge. It is evident that limited economic resources are a struggle everywhere on campus. As alumni of this wonderful University, it is our responsibility to provide economic support to sustain it into the future."
To learn more about joining the Kings and other families whose gifts to Cal Athletics help 850 student-athletes strive for excellence in their University experience, visit calathleticsfund.com.
It was 1967 when Janet King first arrived at the University of California from the Midwest in pursuit of a Ph.D. Charles followed in 1969 for an MBA. Both were Vietnam War veterans.
Now in their sixth decade in Berkeley having earned their Cal degrees, raised a family near campus and contributed stellar careers to the community, the Kings' commitment to Cal is cause for celebration following their recent six-figure donation to the football program.
Dr. King is a former chair and a current professor emerita of the Department of Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology at Cal. She also is a current senior scientist emerita at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute. Charles King retired in 1998 as a principal consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in San Francisco. Both expressed their excitement for the 2018 season of Cal football led by head coach Justin Wilcox.
"We don't have to win every game. That's not where our sentiment lies," said Mr. King, who played baseball and football in high school and at Johns Hopkins University. "Our sentiment lies in remaining the best public university in the world. Excellence in athletics is part of that."
Observations at spring football practices left Dr. King confident. "I was impressed by how well-organized they were," she said. "It was clear that the whole team was engaged 100 percent of the time."
In talking with Wilcox, the Kings realized a gift to football could assist in myriad ways, including making Cal a more sustainable destination not just for great student-athletes, but also great coaches and staff.
"We've been familiar with that for more than 50 years," Mr. King said of the cost of living in the Bay Area. "We couldn't afford housing here either. That need, added to the possibility of contributing to the success of the program, is what moved us to make this contribution now."
Wilcox and the Golden Bears will continue to rise and compete with the most powerful programs in the country on the field and the recruiting trail, the Kings believe. They see Cal as an ideal destination for extraordinary student-athletes, just as Charles King saw it over 50 years ago as an ideal destination for the future Dr. King.
Charles and Janet first met in the summer of 1966 at the Officers Club on Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, where she was working in the metabolic research unit of Fitzsimons Army Hospital and where he had been sent to attend Air Intelligence School. Charles served in Vietnam in Naval Intelligence, Janet in the Army Medical Services Corps, first at Walter Reed Army Hospital and then at Fitzsimons.
"It was Charlie who encouraged me to go to graduate school and to go to Cal," said Janet, who earned her undergraduate degree at Iowa State. "I told him I was considering Ohio State, to which he replied, 'Well, Ohio State isn't very close to any oceans.' Being in the Navy, that wasn't going to work out too well for him. Also, he knew more about top-tier research institutes, so I came to Cal."
Janet moved to Berkeley to begin graduate school in 1967 and Charles joined her in December of 1967 while home on leave. They were married that Christmas Eve at the Berkeley Covenant Church on Hopkins Street after the 11 p.m. holiday service.
"We didn't have to decorate the church thanks to all the poinsettias," Janet recalled.
The Kings raised two sons, one of whom graduated from Cal and Boston University. The other graduated from Harvard before serving in Iraq and then Georgetown after surviving an IED explosion on a mission from Baghdad to Tikrit.
The Kings' affinity for new Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton, who retired with the rank of colonel from the Army in 2008 after 26 years of service, comes as no surprise.
"I served and my father served," Charles said. "We sent a son off to Iraq. We understand military values and we understand the positive aspects of military service. We think that Jim Knowlton, because of his background, is going to be very positive in demonstrating efficiency, planning, organization and fairness."
The Kings' optimism over Cal's leadership extends from Wilcox and Knowlton to the Office of the Chancellor, where the University is led by a former colleague of Dr. King in Carol Christ. "We served at the same time as chairs of our departments," said Dr. King, who also devoted a year at Cal as an academic advisor to the baseball team.
High achievement has defined Dr. King's research career in the field of nutrition. She is a member of the
National Academy of Medicine and the USDA Research Hall of Fame. Her administrative roles include executive director of the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, chair of Nutritional Sciences at Cal, and director of the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis. She also chaired the U.S. Department of Agriculture/U.S. Health and Human Services Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board, and many national and international nutrition policy committees. She has published hundreds of scientific papers, articles and book chapters while training scores of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists.
"Cal is the top public university in the world, without a doubt, but this status is difficult to sustain," Dr. King said. "Adequate finances are a major challenge. It is evident that limited economic resources are a struggle everywhere on campus. As alumni of this wonderful University, it is our responsibility to provide economic support to sustain it into the future."
To learn more about joining the Kings and other families whose gifts to Cal Athletics help 850 student-athletes strive for excellence in their University experience, visit calathleticsfund.com.
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