Dec. 21, 1999
SAMUELI FAMILY GIVES $50 MILLION TO TWO UC CAMPUSES TO SUPPORT ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
Gifts to Schools of Engineering at UCLA and UC Irvine Will Help Faculty, Graduate Students and Undergraduate Students
Dr. Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, have personally donated $50 million to the schools of engineering at UCLA and UC Irvine. Dr. Samueli is the co-founder of Broadcom Corp. in Irvine, Calif. This donation will be used to help both schools to enhance their increasingly important role in the development of the region as one of the nation's high-tech business hubs. The Samuelis have designated $30 million of their gift to UCLA and $20 million to UCI.
At UCLA, $10 million will establish endowments for graduate fellowships, teaching awards and term chairs, and $20 million will be available for capital construction and other high-priority projects. In recognition of this contribution, the UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Science will be renamed The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.
At UCI, the $20 million donation--the largest single gift in UCI's history--will enable the School of Engineering to support faculty research through endowed professorships, create competitive fellowships for graduate students and competitive scholarships for undergraduates, and support other priority projects in the school. The endowed professorships will be held in electrical engineering, computer engineering and microelectromechanical systems. In recognition of Samueli's support, UCI's engineering school will become The Henry Samueli School of Engineering.
Henry Samueli's ties to the UC system are extensive, starting as a student at UCLA, where he received a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering. After working in the private sector, he returned to UCLA in 1985 as a faculty member in the Electrical Engineering Department, and became a full professor in 1994. He has been on a leave of absence from the UCLA faculty since 1995. Since Broadcom's inception in 1991, he has also been active at UCI, including serving on the Board of Trustees of the UCI Foundation, as a board member of the School of Engineering's Corporate Affiliates Program, and as vice chair of the UCI Chief Executive Roundtable.
"The Samuelis' gift is special not only because it will have a tremendous positive impact on the engineering schools at two UC campuses, but because it comes from someone whose involvement with the UC system began as a student, continued as a faculty member, and has developed even further as a business leader," University of California President Richard C. Atkinson said. "We are proud of Henry Samueli's association with UC and of his many contributions to the excellence of the University of California system."
Atkinson noted that the Samuelis' gift will enhance UC's ongoing efforts to address the serious shortage of skilled engineers in California and the nation, to recruit and retain outstanding engineering faculty and to support important campus projects.
"With the support from the governor and Legislature, the University of California is committed to a 40 percent increase in the enrollment of undergraduate and graduate students in engineering and computer and information sciences over the next few years because California's economy, to remain competitive in the international marketplace, needs cutting-edge research and a highly trained workforce," Atkinson said. "The gift from the Samuelis will help us immensely in meeting this commitment."
Henry Samueli is recognized as one of the leading experts in broadband communications circuits, publishing more than 100 papers on the subject. He has been instrumental in founding two high-tech companies, first PairGain Technologies, a telecommunications equipment maker, in 1988, and then Broadcom, the Irvine-based company he founded along with Dr. Henry T. Nicholas, III in 1991. Broadcom is a leading provider of semiconductors that enable the digital transmission of voice, data and video content for home and business applications.
"Having experienced firsthand the benefit of the high-quality education provided by the University of California, I can think of no higher priority for California's and the nation's future than the support of such an outstanding university system," Samueli said.
"Susan's and my gift is an expression of our gratitude to UCLA and UC Irvine, and a demonstration of our commitment to the state's future by further enhancing the capabilities of these two excellent engineering schools. The work of their faculty and alumni has had, and will continue to have, an extraordinary impact on the lives of all Californians and the rest of the world."
Leaders at UCLA and UCI expressed their appreciation for the Samuelis' gifts and noted the significance of the impacts they will have on the two schools of engineering.
"This landmark contribution will help the UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Science enhance its position as a leader in engineering and technology for the 21st century," UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale said. "We are enormously grateful to Henry and Susan Samueli for embracing UCLA's commitment to support the efforts of our students and faculty in the science and technology arena."
"This very generous and strategic gift reflects the Samuelis' deep commitment to education and research, " UCI Chancellor Ralph J. Cicerone said. "Henry and Susan Samueli understand the need to grow the intellectual capital that is the lifeblood of a research university; their gift will provide crucial support to UCI engineering students and faculty, enabling them to create the new knowledge that drives technological progress. UCI is honored to name our engineering school after such an illustrious student, faculty member and business leader."
"Henry Samueli has made significant contributions to the excellence of our electrical engineering department and the school," said A.R. Frank Wazzan, dean of the UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Science. "His outstanding accomplishments as a UCLA student, his role as a distinguished member of our faculty and his performance in his co-leadership role with Dr. Henry Nicholas, also a UCLA graduate, at the helm of one of the highest ranked companies worldwide in the fields of communications and information technology have established him as a leader in academe and industry."
"The Samuelis' gift will have a major impact on the UC Irvine School of Engineering's ability to help meet the increasing demand for high-tech engineers, and to develop new technology to fuel the growth of high-tech business in this region," said Nicolaos Alexopoulos, dean of the UCI School of Engineering. "High-tech engineers are an absolutely crucial ingredient in the future economy of America and the world, and the Samuelis' gift enables UCI to have a major role in the future of engineering."
Henry and Susan Samueli also are active in the community as advocates of education and the arts. Henry Samueli is on the board of Project Tomorrow, a community partnership to enhance K-12 science education in Orange County, as well as the board of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. He received the 1999 National Human Relations Award from the Orange County Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.
Susan Samueli serves on the board of the Orangewood Children's Foundation and also is on the boards of Opera Pacific and Temple Beth El in Aliso Viejo.
The UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Science, which is ranked 20th among engineering schools by U.S. News & World Report, has been on the cutting-edge of technological advances since its inception as the College of Engineering in 1945. In addition to the school's strengths in traditional engineering programs such as aerospace, electrical engineering and computer science, it is advancing research in the evolving fields of wireless communications and networking, micromachines and biomedical engineering.
The school continues to attract leading faculty and exceptional students from around the world, and offers more than 30 academic and professional degree programs as well as an interdepartmental graduate degree in biomedical engineering. For more information about the school, see http://www.engineer.ucla.edu.
UCI's School of Engineering is ranked among the nation's top 50 graduate engineering programs by U.S. News & World Report, and the number of undergraduates majoring in engineering at UCI has grown steadily since 1995. This fall, the number of undergraduate majors in engineering increased by 23 percent over the previous year.
For more information about the school, see http://www.eng.uci.edu.
Contacts: Jeff Snyder, UCLA, (310) 825-2585
[email protected]
Sherry Angel, UCI, (949) 824-6925
[email protected]
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