While Susan Mathews and her late husband, Robert, can be considered pioneers in the high-tech industry, the Sacramento couple's greatest achievement may be in cancer research. With her recent gift of $1 million to the UC Davis Cancer Research Program, Susie Mathews became the Cancer Center's largest single donor to date.

As founder of Sacramento-based CableData (now DST Innovis), Bob Mathews conquered the cable television billing industry in the 1980s. The company, which he started with a $5,000 loan, grew to serve more than 22 million cable customers and realize more than $80 million in annual revenues. But Mathews' biggest challenge did not come from a business competitor. In 1986, doctors diagnosed prostate cancer. In typical fashion, Bob faced his illness head on. "Bob said, 'We've got to find a cure for this cancer before I die from it'," Susie Mathews remembers.

During his treatment, Mathews formed a close friendship with his surgeon, Ralph deVere White, director of UC Davis Cancer Center and professor and chair of urology at UC Davis School of Medicine.

The couple wanted to support deVere White's research. Together, deVere White and the Mathews collaborated to develop a data processing system to automate cancer research at the Cancer Center, bringing in hardware and programmers from CableData to build the custom software. The Mathews' efforts helped investigators at the Cancer Center conduct research more efficiently and quickly.

Mathews, meanwhile, was losing his fight with prostate cancer. He died of the disease in 1987. Determined to honor her late husband's memory and battle, Susie Mathews in 1990 established the Robert J. Mathews Foundation for Prostate Cancer Research, after selling her portion of CableData.

Two years later Susie gave $100,000 to the UC Davis Cancer Center, the institution's first gift in support of prostate cancer research. The contribution was critical to the institution's ability to launch a comprehensive prostate cancer research program and proved to be a key component in the Cancer Center's ability to achieve National Cancer Institute designation — an honor reserved for institutions that exhibit excellence in cancer research. Today, thanks in large part to Susie Mathews' initial gift, the prostate cancer research program boasts 24 scientists and about $4 million in research funding.

Susie's commitment to the Cancer Center did not end with her first gift. Her $1 million pledge in November will allow researchers at the Cancer Center to continue to conduct cutting-edge research across all cancer programs.

"Just as her first gift helped the prostate program grow, her recent gift will help ensure that the entire cancer program grows," deVere White says. "Her generous gifts honor Bob, and honor his desire to find a cure for this terrible disease."