Sybil Carrère and Jim Stretch

Now, by combining their gratitude to various alma maters with a strong wish to help students from underprivileged backgrounds, the married couple have arranged to make a series of bequests to several institutions, including a major gift to the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing.

“We knew we wanted to do a bequest for UC Irvine and looked around to find a school or program that fit best with our priorities,” Carrère explains. “The school of nursing has a real emphasis on health disparities, which is important to us. We are interested in ensuring that students who come from the foster care system or ethnic and racial minorities dealing with major poverty have access to the nursing school. Those are all priorities that the nursing program shares with us.”

Stretch, who began his academic journey at UC Irvine in 1970, has a background in biological sciences and marine science. “I started at UC Irvine the fourth year the campus had opened,” he recalls. “I had great courses and professors that helped me move toward a graduate program.” After beginning his graduate studies at UC Davis, where he met Carrère, Stretch completed his graduate studies at UC Santa Barbara and embarked on a distinguished career that took him from Antarctica to the Arctic, conducting research and ultimately shifting to an administrative role in higher education.

Carrère, who completed her doctorate in UC Irvine’s Social Ecology program in the 1980s before becoming a research professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Washington, echoed Stretch’s sentiment about their experiences as Anteaters. “My interest lies in the physiological impact of stress, and I found that my work aligned perfectly with the emerging focus on health psychology,” she said, noting that her research field has afforded her a special appreciation of the role nurses play in combating the negative health effects of societal and environmental stress.

“My take on nursing is that it has a real focus on healing in healthcare,” continues Carrère. “Whereas medical school is more about fixing what’s wrong, nursing is about providing care and healing, which is essential in today’s healthcare landscape.”

The couple’s bequest to UC Irvine is not just a financial gift; it is a commitment to nurturing the next generation of healthcare providers who understand the importance of equitable access to education. A defining feature is that it will specifically target students facing financial challenges or who have overcome obstacles, such as those from the foster care system. 

“So much of our experience was in an academic environment where education was something we took for granted,” Stretch explains. “We wanted to ultimately make sure there were other people that had that kind of experience so they could grow and choose whatever profession they go into.”

Carrère and Stretch have also made bequests to the University of Washington, UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis, focusing on biological and environmental sciences and underrepresented students. Given that Carrère’s passion for mentoring students has been a consistent theme throughout her career, the couple have structured their bequest so that administrators can provide funds to deserving students from underprivileged backgrounds. “It’s crucial that we support those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue nursing,” says Carrère.

Stretch’s observations of Carrère’s diverse experiences further inform their philanthropic efforts. “A lot of Sybil’s research on the sources of health disparities have informed our gift,” he said. “It’s been an important part of trying to find a school that has the right program.”

Since 2004, the couple has lived near Seattle on Bainbridge Island, where they engage in volunteer work, sailing and travel. Their shared adventures around the world have continued to enrich their perspectives on education and health. “We both like to travel, and our experiences in school and science have taken us to many places,” Stretch says.

Ultimately, Carrère and Stretch hope the impact of their gift to the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing will ensure that their legacy of mentorship, inclusivity and dedication to health equity will help enhance the school’s ongoing mission to create cohorts of future nurses that include students whose backgrounds make higher education a particularly ambitious aspiration. 

“It’s about creating opportunities where they might not otherwise exist,” concludes Carrère. “All it takes is someone shining a light on you and saying you have real potential.”

Sybil Carrère and Jim Stretch spoke with writer Nicholas Schou.

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