With their help, the arts and the arboretum are blossoming
Volunteers and donors Ann and Doug Myles have made gifts to the Fullerton Arboretum and the CSUF arts for nearly 40 years.
Together and as individuals, Doug and Ann Myles are helping Cal State Fullerton grow and thrive.
Doug is a man of many talents: an entrepreneur, business park developer and a recently retired volunteer fundraiser for the Fullerton Arboretum. “I did a lot of hiking in the eastern Sierra Nevada, western Mojave Desert and the Channel Islands, where I developed an appreciation for California wildflowers and native plants. The arboretum is a special place to experience some of this beauty.” He started the Chaparral Society, a donor group, to raise much-needed money to improve existing gardens and to build new gardens, the first of which were the Channel Islands and the Mojave Desert gardens, now under construction.
Ann has been an active volunteer in several Fullerton cultural groups. Ann’s Cal State Fullerton involvement began in the early ’70s, when she joined the Music Associates board. As a former elementary school teacher, she recognized the importance of a strong arts program in the schools. “The study of music helps students in many ways, math, for example.” Her introduction to the university, however, was in the early ’60s when she took a course in the visual arts to qualify for a California teaching credential.
Doug and Ann were early leaders in the Performing Arts Center campaign and have consistently supported music through the Music Associates, MAMM Alliance and the Visiting Artists program. They also support the “art” of nature displayed every day at the
arboretum. “Doug and I like to get people involved in order that they may better enjoy what is offered here,” said Ann. “Time and talent are necessary forms of contribution,”
said Doug, “but financial support is also needed to make a difference.”
For information about giving to the College of the Arts, please contact Milly Heaton
at 657-278-7695, or for the Fullerton Arboretum, contact Gregory Dyment
at 657-278-3250.