Craig Blunden grew up in a family that strongly believed in the importance of community involvement. From an early age, he witnessed the impact that service and leadership could have on the lives of others, and those values would carry forward throughout his career and his long-standing connection with UC Riverside.
His mother played an active role in launching nonprofits in Riverside, demonstrating the significance of grassroots efforts to meet community needs. In 1956, his father, Gordon A. Blunden, further strengthened the family’s ties to service by starting a savings and loan that would grow into what is now Provident Bank. Fourteen years later, in 1970, the UCR School of Business established the graduate program that would later become the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management. Among its very first graduates in 1972 was Craig Blunden, whose relationship with the School of Business would continue to deepen over the decades.
The connection to UCR did not end with graduation. In 1985, following his family’s legacy of service, Blunden was appointed to the UCR Foundation Board. This role gave him firsthand experience with the needs of the university and opened his eyes to the broader mission of higher education.
“I really learned a lot in those 14 years that I was on that board,” said Blunden, who now serves as Provident’s CEO and chairman of the board. “I ended up starting a foundation here at the bank, the Provident Charitable Foundation, and using that to give to the community in a number of ways. One of the gifts was to the Graduate School of Management.”
That 1994 gift established the Gordon A. Blunden/Provident Savings Bank Endowed Business Scholarship, named in honor of his father’s legacy of community service. Even after Gordon Blunden’s passing in 1996, the family’s connection to UCR continued to grow, with Craig ensuring that his father’s example of generosity and engagement lived on.
Provident Bank has also been a long-standing partner of the UCR School of Business, sponsoring the Inland Empire Economic Forecast since its inception more than a dozen years ago. This event has provided the region with valuable economic insights and strengthened the connection between the university, local business leaders, and the broader community.
Beyond philanthropy, Craig Blunden has remained personally engaged with students and faculty. He currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council and previously participated as an Executive Fellow, an experience that allowed him to interact directly with students in meaningful ways.
“Being a fellow was a wonderful experience. It was a chance for me to sit with the students, hold office hours, answer their questions and really continue my own learning,” he said.
For Blunden, these experiences highlight the importance of education and the role universities play in building strong communities. He sees UCR not only as an academic institution but as a force for opportunity and transformation in the Inland Empire.
Blunden is proud of UCR’s involvement in the community and the way it empowers students to make their own contributions, carrying forward the same values he was raised with.
“When I start to think about philanthropy, it really evolves as a process as you grow up,” he said. “It just makes you feel great when you see people being successful and able to help others in the community.”