Glenda M. Bayless
Philanthropist/Businesswoman
California State University, San Bernardino
Glenda M. Bayless is a highly respected businesswoman, philanthropist and longtime supporter of California State University, San Bernardino, whose kindness and generosity has provided students with the opportunity to go to college and who has served as an inspiration for others to support the university.
Ms. Bayless has served as a role model through her generosity and her counsel to family and clients regarding charitable giving. She has been a personal donor to Cal State San Bernardino since the mid-1990s, when the university began its first campus-wide fundraising campaign. She and her husband, Gerry, were among leading donors through the establishment of an endowment to benefit business students with scholarships.
A devotee of the arts, Ms. Bayless has supported CSUSB's Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art and started an endowment to award scholarships to students in the university's College of Arts and Letters. She also created an endowment to support the President's Academic Excellence Scholarship program, which was established to attract the top 1 percent of San Bernardino County high school graduates to attend CSUSB.
The Baylesses committed a large personal gift for the observatory on campus, which includes a large observation deck named in their honor. They have continued to offer major scholarship contributions to the university's College of Business and Public Administration. In addition, the Baylesses have included CSUSB as part of a bequest and through an in-kind gift of land.
A certified public accountant who has practiced in Southern California for more than 40 years, Ms. Bayless has served as an estate planning adviser and has spoken at seminars hosted by the university. She has chaired the Inland Community Bank Board of Directors for the past 20 years. In 1992, she was named Business Leader of the Year by the San Bernardino County Sun, and she was the first to earn the Rialto Chamber of Commerce's Athena Award.
Ms. Bayless has served Cal State San Bernardino as a member of its Philanthropic Foundation Board of Directors, the President's Advancement Council and the Advisory Council to the College of Business and Public Administration.
In recognition of her many accomplishments and extensive contributions to the university and the community, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State University, San Bernardino are proud to confer upon Glenda M. Bayless the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.