Mohini Jain, an Indian American philanthropist, retired teacher and longtime resident of Davis, Calif., Feb. 21 made a $1.5 million donation to U.C. Davis to advance the study of Jainism.

As part of the gift, the university will establish the Mohini Jain Presidential Chair for Jain Studies in the Department of Religious Studies.

The chair is part of a larger effort to position U.C. Davis as one of the leaders in the study of Indian religions and the interdisciplinary field of South Asia studies broadly, the university said in a news release.