The Preuss School began when a group of faculty from UCSD began
to planning for the best way to increase the number of students in the university
who come from low income or under-represented groups. Under the leadership of
Thurgood Marshall College Provost, Cecil Lytle, the group approached then UCSD
Chancellor Robert Dynes and requested the a charter school for students grades
6-12 be built and run by the university.
Believing that it was the mission of a land-grant university to find ways to
better prepare young students for admission and success at the university, he
brought it before the faculty senate who agreed that the university could run
it if they could find the money to build the school’s campus and run it
financially self-sufficiently. The first and most significant gift toward building
the school came from Peter and Peggy Preuss and their family foundation. John
Moores, the Walton Family Foundation, the Copley Family, Douglas Manchester,
and the Coors family also made significant gifts and key areas of the school
are named in recognition of their seminal support.
The Preuss School, which is jointly chartered by the San Diego Unified School
District and the University of California, San Diego, opened in 1999 in portable
buildings on UCSD’s Thurgood Marshall campus with 150 students in grades
6–8. The current state-of-the-art facility on UCSD’s East Campus
off of Genesee Avenue was completed in 200 and classes began on that campus
in the fall of 2000.
Why is it named The Preuss School?
The Preuss School was named in recognition of a $5 million gift to the University
of California, San Diego from Peter and Peggy Preuss, their son Peter, and the
Preuss Family Foundation to help establish a charter school on campus. Peter
Preuss, appointed a Regent of the University of California in 1996, and his
wife have a long history of support for UCSD and for K-12 education. Peter earned
his master's degree in mathematics from UCSD and went on to found Integrated
Software Systems Corp. (ISSCO), a San Diego based software company specializing
in computer graphics. He is the co-founder of the UC San Francisco Preuss Laboratory
for Molecular Neuro-Oncology and the Preuss Laboratory for Brain Tumor Research.
Peter has served as president of the UCSD Cancer Center Foundation and on the
board of the UCSD CONNECT program. Peggy, a former teacher who had a special
interest in curriculum development, is vice chairman of the UC San Diego Foundation.
Peter and Peggy have been long time members of the UCSD Chancellors' Associates,
the Alumni Association and the Board of Overseers.
