Dave Hitz
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: NetApp
FUNDING AREAS: Arts, environment, science, education, diseases
OVERVIEW: David Hitz and family move their philanthropy through the Hitz Foundation, which gave away around $2.6 million in a recent year. The foundation supports organizations in the arts, environment, education and science.
BACKGROUND: Dave Hitz attended Swarthmore College and Deep Springs College but eventually graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and electrical engineering in 1986. He worked as a senior engineer at Auspex Corporation, an enterprise storage solutions provider and held engineering positions at MIPS Computer. Hitz founded NetApp in 1992 with a desire to simplify data management and could storage. Hitz retired in 2019.
ISSUES:
ARTS: The Hitz Foundation’s largest giving area is the arts. The foundation has articulated a strong interest in Shakespearean Theater, specifically, the “translation” of Shakespearean plays into modern English. Foundation President Ken Hitz is on the board of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which has enjoyed ongoing support. The foundation has also supported the Alabama Shaespeare Festival in Montgomery. Other arts and culture grantees include the Idaho Museum of Natural History, the Computer History Museum, Chamber Music San Francisco, and the San Francisco Film Society.
ENVIRONMENT: A significant portion of the Hitz Foundation’s grantmaking supports organizations working for environmental conservation and climate change mitigation. Ken Hitz serves on the U.S. board of directors of the Massai Wilderness Conservation Fund, which has received ongoing support. Other environmental grantees include the Deep Spring Corporation, Alaska’s Inian Island Institute and San Francisco’s Regeneration Project.
EDUCATION: Hitz’s education funding has mainly supported higher education. Grantees include Deep Springs College, the University of South Florida and Lesley University. The foundation has also given to the Nueva School, which serves gifted students in Hillsborough, California.
SCIENCE RESEARCH: The Hitz Foundation’s science grantmaking overlaps somewhat with its conservation giving. The Hitz Foundation has supported environmental research at the University of South Florida and the Inian Island Institute in Alaska.
DISEASES: Research and treatment for diseases is a smaller area of giving for the Hitz Foundation. Grantees include the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Alzheimer’s Association.
OTHER: The Hitz Foundation names archeology and digital preservation of artifacts as areas of interest. To these ends, the foundation has provided ongling support to Global Digital Heritage, which “captures state-of-the-art 3D models of heritage sites and museum collections and shares them with the world at no cost.”
LOOKING FORWARD: The Hitz Foundation’s grantmaking has increased gradually over the past few years. Expect the Hitz family to stick with their select interest areas.
CONTACT:
Hitz Foundation
1801 Page Mill Rd.
Palo Alto, CA 94304
(650) 845-8100
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