Elias Abundis Castillo and his wife Cathy Neville Castillo signed an agreement with the San José State University School of Journalism and Mass Communications to give back with a planned gift. They signed a memorandum of understanding Oct. 29 to establish the Castillo Journalism Technology Fund with the Tower Foundation of SJSU.

Elias Castillo graduated from SJSU in 1962 with a bachelor’s of art, returning to the school to complete a master’s in 1997. He has had a distinguished career in journalism. He has earned three Pulitzer Prize nominations and 13 journalism awards for his work at the San Jose Mercury News, the Santa Barbara News Press, the Reno Gazette and the Associated Press. According to a summary provided to guests during the signing ceremony on Oct. 29, Elias Castillo’s gift “recognizes a deep and lifelong affection for SJSU and a desire to make a contribution to his alma mater that will not only help maintain the high standards of the SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications, but provide its students with the necessary technological tools that are vital to achieving success at the highest levels of journalism.”

Cathy Neville Castillo worked for 40 years with the Associated Press as a reporter, writer and editor in addition to time spent with the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News. Most recently she has been the director of news and publications for the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

The planned gift will come to the university as part of the Castillos’ estate.