The Harry W. Lucheta Fund for Study Abroad

A generous gift from UC Berkeley alumni Lisa Lucheta' 79 and Paul Lucheta '93 recently established The Harry W. Lucheta Fund for Study Abroad. The fund will support scholarships to help UC Berkeley students participate in Berkeley Programs for Study Abroad. With great admiration for their father's Italian heritage and the Lucheta family legacy at UC Berkeley, Lisa and Paul hope to foster students' cross-cultural awareness. The Harry W. Lucheta Fund for Study Abroad will have a preference for scholarship awards to support students who wish to study in Italy.

As a first generation Italian-American, Harry Lucheta had a passion for Italian language and culture. He also had a great passion for Cal. A Bay Area native, Harry graduated from Berkeley in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in engineering. While at Berkeley he met his wife Ezilda "Bunny" (Torre) Lucheta who earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1947 and her teaching credentials in 1948. Harry lived his entire life as an active community member, beginning with his achievement early in life of becoming an Eagle Scout, and being president of Bowles Hall while at Cal, to participating in organizations such as the Private Industry Council of Marin. He was a lifelong Cal Bears fan and a member of the Order of the Golden Bear. Travel was a passion for Harry and he travelled extensively with family and friends, especially to Italy.

In 1957, he joined his mother-in-law in the family business, R. Torre and Company, guiding the growth of the Torani company and its legendary flavored Italian syrups. Under his guidance, Torani was transformed from a local family business to an international company. Today Torani is the industry's leading brand of syrups and other flavorful products. Torani highlighted its Italian roots with its creation of flavored espresso beverages in the early 1980s and continues to craft flavoring syrups for Italian sodas and other products for beverage applications.

For 50 years, Harry led Torani as owner, steward and mentor. At Torani, he instilled a culture of caring for people, respect, honor and fun. He brought grace and dignity to business, where trust in people was foremost and agreement was formed in a warm handshake. He is remembered and celebrated as a true gentleman with remarkable charm, integrity and generosity of spirit.

Paul Lucheta and his sister Lisa Lucheta honor Harry's spirit and continue the family legacy at Torani, along with CEO Melanie Dulbecco '85. The Lucheta family, including Lisa's husband, Richard Vaterlaus ‘84 are very appreciative of their years at Cal and want to enable and inspire undergraduates to have similar life-changing experiences at the University.