VALLEY COUPLE DONATES CSUN'S BIGGEST-EVER GIFT.

Byline: Robert Monroe Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - A California State University, Northridge, alumna and her husband donated $1.5 million - the school's largest alumni gift ever - to build an aquatic therapy center, officials said Monday.

Linda Brown said she and Abbott Brown, who live in Sherman Oaks, made the gift after she visited the school's Center for the Achievement of the Physically Disabled and heard about ambitious plans for the Western Center for Adaptive Aquatic Therapy.

``It was a necessary thing,'' said Linda Browne, who graduated from CSUN in 1976 with a bachelor of arts degree in history.

The $3.5 million center will be one of the largest of its kind in the West, featuring four swimming pools specially designed to provide therapy to disabled people. CSUN's center has rehabilitative equipment for people with disabilities ranging from arthritis to spinal cord injuries, but no pool.

``I think that Northridge has a lot of good professional training,'' said Brown. ``I think this is one of the places that Northridge really excels.''

Brown said CSUN has been a ``yeoman'' university that has given thousands of residents a chance at an education they might not have gotten elsewhere.

``I really believe in that school,'' she said, explaining the motivation behind the couple's first gift to the school.

The Browns made their gift in December, but the university delayed the announcement to coincide with the kickoff of CSUN Rising, a capital campaign to raise $10 million for five campus projects, including the aquatic center. The university plans to host an event announcing the campaign Feb. 25.

``It was the way they chose to roll out their campaign,'' Linda Brown said.

The Browns' gift raises the total already raised by CSUN Rising to $4 million, said Suzanne Hackett, the school's director of campaigns.

``This is definitely the lead gift,'' Hackett said.

CSUN interim President Louanne Kennedy said she hopes the gift sets the example for future major donations. In addition to being the school's largest alumni gift, it is also the largest cash gift in CSUN history.

``We are very grateful to the Browns for their generosity,'' Kennedy said in a prepared statement. ``This is truly an important facility that will help change human lives, and it exemplifies the University's commitment to community service.''

Linda Brown, who with her husband heads the charitable Ridgestone Foundation, said she went through her academic career at CSUN unaware of the center's existence, but heard about it through a fellow graduate and toured it with university administrators.

The couple decided to donate once they saw that the 6-month-old CSUN Rising campaign had gotten off the ground, she said.

Abbott Brown is senior vice president of corporate affairs for Global Crossing Ltd., a spectacularly successful Beverly Hills telecommunications company creating a worldwide fiber-optic network.

``I'm very anxious to meet them,'' said center director Sam Britten, who has been at the university for 41 years. ``We've shared the dream of what this thing could do to literally thousands of people. Some just give words of encouragement, but others open up their checkbook.''

The gift came a month after Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, secured a $1 million federal grant for the center.

Construction is scheduled to begin in June, officials said.

Hackett said she believes the gift is a landmark that shows CSUN has arrived as a Southern California university that can draw large endowments.

``These kinds of gifts are not donations. They are investments that people are making,'' she said. ``You want to make your investment in a place where it can do some good, and I think that's what Linda Brown wanted to do.''

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Photo: Linda Brown, a 1976 California State University, Northridge, graduate, and her husband, Abbott, donated $1.5 million to the school to help build an aquatic center for the disabled.