Chancellor Robert Birgeneau placing the Berkeley Medal around Barclay’s Neck.
Barclay Addressing the Crowd at the building site for the new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archives (BAMPFA), where The Barclay and Sharon Simpson Galleries pay tribute to their major leadership and financial support in the campaign for the new art museum.
Sharon and Barclay at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Simpson Center for Student-Athlete High Performance and the Retrofitted UC Memorial Stadium
About Barclay Simpson
Barclay Simpson (Barc) (1921-2014) was the founder of Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc and its primary subsidiary, Simpson Strong-Tie, which he led from 1956 to his retirement from the Company in 2012 and from the Board of Directors in 2013.
From 1976 to 1988, he served three terms as the elected representative from Contra Costa County on the BART Board of Directors. Also during this time, Barclay served on the UC Haas School of Business Board of Directors from the late 1970’s and provided a substantial founding grant to launch the capital campaign for the physical expansion of the Haas complex.
Along with his second wife, Sharon, he ran the Barclay Simpson Fine Arts Gallery (Gallery) in Lafayette, California from 1981-1994. During and after this period, from the mid-80’s onward, Barclay was a member of the Board of Directors of the California College of Arts (CCA) and was a member, then President, of the Board of Directors for the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). He and Sharon provided a substantial proportion of the total funding of the new Berkeley museum as well as large grants of money to CCA.
From the early 90’s until the end of his life, he was a primary supporter of Girls Inc. of Alameda County as well as of a long list of other non-profit arts and education institutions, including the Oakland Museum and the Diablo Regional Arts Association, which is aligned with the Lescher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA.
Recognized for his unusual qualities of ethical leadership in business and philanthropy, Barclay received the Business Man of the Year Award from the UC Haas School of Business in 2005 and the Berkeley Medal, UC Berkeley’s highest award, in 2013.