University of Washington Gets $50 Million From Computer Software Pioneers
March 09 2017 - 7:23PM
Dow Jones News
By Melissa Korn
The University of Washington has received $50 million to promote
its computer science and engineering department into a stand-alone
school named for Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul G. Allen.
The Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
will be backed by a $40 million gift from Mr. Allen, and another
$10 million from Microsoft in Mr. Allen's honor.
The university's board of regents voted to approve the name and
status change Thursday.
"We are entering a new golden age of innovation in computer
science, and UW students and faculty will be at its leading edge,"
Mr. Allen said.
Mr. Allen, who regularly tells of visits to the University of
Washington to access cutting-edge computers while he was in high
school, has given upward of $100 million to the university, funding
initiatives related to artificial intelligence, brain science and
cell science.
Tying the computer science and engineering program to Mr. Allen
and Microsoft has both "aspirational and reputational" value, said
Ed Lazowska, a computer science and engineering professor who holds
an endowed chair named for Bill and Melinda Gates. "We will be
forever linked with an internationally revered pioneer and
visionary."
The new funds will be used to expand the school's endowment,
hire faculty and further pursue research areas including the
intersection between computing and neuroscience, mobile health and
artificial intelligence.
Incoming freshmen at the university now mark computer science
and engineering as their top-choice major, surpassing business
administration in 2015.
A separate $110 million fundraising effort is under way to build
a second computer science and engineering building across the
street from the current one -- already named for Mr. Allen. It has
received gifts from Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc. and a variety of
tech-sector executives for the new structure, which broke ground in
January.
The university is in the midst of a $5 billion fundraising push,
one of many massive campaigns at colleges nationwide.
Write to Melissa Korn at melissa.korn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 09, 2017 19:08 ET (00:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024
