SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner, one of the world’s wealthiest people with a fortune estimated close to $15 billion, is boosting his Orange County ties.
The German software company (NYSE: SAP) on March 13 announced a $2 million gift to the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences at UCI.
The gift established the Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence, and the funds will help “enable the development of new graduate and undergraduate courses in AI, facilitate the initiation of interdisciplinary research projects, foster alliances with industry partners, and support advanced computing infrastructure,” according to UCI.
“Through this endowment, SAP joins us in our school’s mission to help shape the future by advancing human-centered computing technologies,” said Marios Papaefthymiou, dean of the Bren School.
Plattner, who currently serves as supervisory board chairman at $323 billion-valued SAP, is reported to own multiple residences in Emerald Bay. SAP counts a local base in the Lido Marina Village area of Newport Beach.
The SAP gift marked the second notable gift in a matter of days to UCI from a prominent business with local ties.
On March 10, aerospace manufacturing firm Pratt & Whitney announced it would help establish a center of excellence for solidification science and materials science at the Irvine university, to be housed in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.
Solidification science refers to the study of how liquids transform into solids. The center will focus on the metal and material processing challenges in the manufacturing of critical jet engine components, such as single-crystal turbine blades, according to UCI. Diran Apelian, UCI Distinguished Professor of materials science and engineering, will be the center’s inaugural director.
Pratt & Whitney, a unit of aerospace giant RTX Corp. (formerly Raytheon), counts a local base in Cypress.
The Samueli family’s ties to OC universities extend beyond UCI. On Feb. 17, the Samueli Foundation announced a $1.85 million investment “in the future of civil discourse at Chapman University.”
The funds will be used for the founding of the Or Initiative, a program led by Dr. Vikki Katz, Professor at Chapman’s School of Communication and the Fletcher Jones Foundation to Endow Chair in Free Speech, that’s designed “to equip young people with the skills to engage in difficult, nuanced conversations with intellectual rigor, historical context and empathy.”
Chapman this month was listed as one of 60 schools in the U.S. under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for allegations of antisemitism and discrimination against Jewish students, due in part to pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses.
For more on the Samueli family’s focus on philanthropy, see Yuika Yoshida’s story on this page.
Chapman Assistant Professor of PR Christopher Trela counts many hats and has arguably the best job at the Business Journal; he’s served as our restaurant and food critic for nearly a decade. See this edition for his selections of our Restaurateur of the Year and Chef of the Year.
