UNCFoundation
The UNCFoundation is dedicated to the advancement of Socially Beneficial Research, Education, and Advocacy through the implementation of hard and soft technologies. Both hard and soft technologies are a socio-cultural phenomenon used to solve societal problems and produce beneficial outcomes for humanity.
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Hard Technologies focus on the skills, tools, and innovations that are employed by people to alter, accommodate, and influence nature in support of human health, social harmony, and global ecology.
The UNC Foundation supports research and development of hard technologies in the biomedical, engineering, and horticulture fields. The hard technology programs currently sponsored by the Foundation are:
- King Technology Ventures (KTV), which promotes prototype research and development linked to the biomedical and engineering fields.
- Asian Medicinal Botanicals (AMB), which promotes research into local small-scale, sustainable, and ecologically sound farming of Asian medicinal herbs.
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Soft Technologies are concerned with human and social factors that facilitate human flexibility, encourage human initiatives, and emphasize human needs through research and education.
The UNC Foundation supports soft technologies dedicated to providing a collaborative hub for innovative research and advocacy in the realms of lifestyle, health, and resilience for individuals and communities. The soft technology education and research programs currently sponsored by the UNC Foundation fall under the program heading of:
Enhancement of Community and Individual Resilience, which operates as a joint collaboration with LifeWiseU and LiveLifeResources. The programs promote research and advocacy for the empowerment of people and communities in becoming more resilient through integrative approaches to food, nutrition, and lifestyle wellness. (link to LifeWiseU)
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UNC Foundation: Dedicated to Advancing the legacy of Dr. Y. King Liu
The UNCFoundation provides leadership in expanding the outreach of the University of Northern California (UNC). Both the Foundation and UNC were founded by Dr. Y. King Liu in the middle 1990s with a focus on biomedical engineering education and research. Dr. Liu was a pioneer in the origination of the biomedical engineering field. A decade after UNC’s inception, the Science and Technology Innovation Center (STIC) became the university’s educational nucleus providing practical experience in prototype development and business incubation. The Foundation continues to support Dr. Liu’s research and education legacy through the implementation of programs supporting hard and soft technologies.
UNC Foundation Executive Director
Paul Dunn, PhD – As a former college President and Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Dunn brings over 20 years of nonprofit administration experience to the position of UNC Foundation Executive Director. His previous work for the UNC Foundation has been to oversee its educational mission, which included managing the biomedical engineering doctoral programs. An important emphasis of these programs was the inclusion of students in the entrepreneurial development of innovative biomedical devices designed to benefit the healthcare community.
Dr. Dunn and the UNC Foundation Board have recently expanded the Foundation’s over-all mission beyond the field of biomedical engineering. The Foundation now collaboratively supports socially beneficial advocacy and research in the areas of: lifestyle, health, and resilience for individuals and communities; and the development of best practices regarding local small scale production of high-quality organic Asian herbal medications.
