Ken Corday (Porter ’75, Aesthetic Arts) — UC Santa Cruz alumnus, award-winning television producer, and pioneer in the film industry — is a fierce advocate and supporter of the arts, both indoor and outdoor. Best known for producing the longest-running daytime soap opera in the US, “Days of Our Lives,” Corday is a nine-time Emmy-nominated producer and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
With the intention of making a lasting impact on the UC Santa Cruz music department and students, Corday established The Kenneth R. Corday Family Chair in Music for Film, Television, Emerging Media, and Multimedia Collaboration at the end of June. This generous and transformational gift will be used to provide the named chair holder with a scholarship for teaching, research and service in music for film, television and media.
Corday received a BA in music/aesthetics from UC Santa Cruz in 1975 and an MA in music composition from San Jose State University (SJSU) in 1977. He said his music education at UCSC was instrumental in his work as a television producer and he wants to encourage current students who aspire to similar careers.
“Once you’ve achieved a certain level of expertise and professionalism in the world and have enough resources to do charity work, your first look should be at the people who got you where you’re going or where you are,” Corday said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t gone to UC Santa Cruz and gone to graduate school. So it’s time for me to fight back.”
Establishing the Corday Family Chair in Music is not the first time Corday has chosen to support the arts at UCSC.
In 2015, Corday established the Kenneth R. Corday Family Presidential Chair in Writing for Television and Film dedicated to theater and education in the new media arts at UCSC. In celebration of the Corday Family Chair in Writing for Television and Film, Corday returned to UCSC on May 20 to attend an investiture ceremony that announced Yiman Wang as the new chair, celebrated outgoing chair Rick Prelinger, and honored the generosity and legacy of Ken Corday.
A transformative gift from the Corday family helped fund multiple film courses at UCSC, such as Professional Topics in Film, Writing About Film, Television & Media and media understanding.
In addition, the art department is looking forward to Corday-funded projects that will drop this year: a series of lectures in memory of the late art professor Jonathan Kahana, visits by emerging Native American writers and producers, planning and development of a scholarship program for very recent students, and curricular innovations.
Dean of the Department of Art, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, expressed her excitement and gratitude for Corday’s longtime support of the arts at UCSC.
“The Kenneth R. Corday Family Chair in Writing for Television and Film will forever provide generations of UCSC faculty and students with vital resources for telling new, inclusive stories that transform our society,” said Parreñas Shimizu. “And with the announcement of another endowed chair, this time in music, the arts have another opportunity to honor the legacy of Mr. Corday and his family at UCSC, his beloved alma mater. When a giver radiates the happiness that comes from giving, we see the resulting joy in our community.”
Outgoing Corday Family Chair of Writing for Television and Film, Rick Prelinger, emphasized the impact the Corday family endowment has had on the film department and the programs available to students as a result of Corday’s gift.
“The Corday family’s funds have helped film and digital media create many new opportunities for students,” Prelinger said. “We brought film and television writers, producers, directors and artists to lectures to share their ideas, skills and careers with students. We have increased the number of writing courses we offer. We create writing and publishing opportunities for our graduate students. We are working to develop our curriculum to better serve students as they prepare to enter the rapidly evolving media industries. And we look forward to doing much more.”
Prelinger added that his research has been dramatically helped by the generosity of the Corday family, which used Corday research funds to scan archival film and edit for his recent film, “Earth, Fire, Air, Water: California’s Infrastructures.”
Corday, a longtime leader in television drama, is dedicated to preparing students for the industry and wants to do so through UC Santa Cruz.
“There’s so much competition in the TV and film business, and there’s no inclination to train young writers and producers in film and television,” Corday said. “So I wanted to establish the [Corday] chair to develop talent here for the industry. How to prepare students for what we call ‘the jump’ – the jump from college to the professional world. It’s terrifying and that’s why I founded the Chair.”
