Chapman University alumnus Dale Fowler and his wife, Sarah Ann, were hosting Chapman President Daniele Struppa and his wife, Lisa Sparks, dean of the university’s School of Communication, at Lismore Castle in southern Ireland in July 2016. While sitting in the ancient rooms in the shadow of portraits of esteemed scientists, such as Robert Boyle, the couples shared a pint of Guinness as they talked about Chapman’s future.
Struppa said he convinced the Fowlers of the strategic importance of an engineering school, inspiring them to donate $45 million to the effort.
It’s been one of Struppa’s highest priorities since he first set foot on the bucolic Chapman campus 10 years ago, because he saw a void in that area, he said, and the Fowlers’ gift will help fill the void.
The impact the school will have on the business community is significant, said Joe Kiani, chief executive of Irvine-based medical device maker Masimo Corp., which hires engineers. Kiani majored in electrical engineering before entering the healthcare field.
“As a longtime resident and business leader in Orange County, I’m delighted to see the Irvine area, already an expanding tech hub, benefit from Chapman University’s growing stature in the sciences, Kiani said via email. “The innovations in non-invasive monitoring that propel us forward at Masimo … depend on a steady stream of fresh engineering talent. Having such a great additional resource on our doorstep will benefit not only Masimo but the economic vitality of the area as a whole.”
Struppa said OC, like the entire state, needs more engineers.
“Even though we have lots of engineering schools, we are completely under-capacity,” he said. “We cannot admit enough in the existing schools. There’s a tremendous demand and not enough spots.”
Day One
When Struppa joined Chapman as provost, he convened a town hall meeting with faculty to discuss creating an engineering school. The response was positive, but they pointed out that Chapman needed a stronger foundation in the sciences to support such a school, he said.
At the time, Chapman didn’t have a college of science or a physics department. So Struppa recruited nine physicists and scientists, including “internationally-recognized names,” such as Menas Kafatos and Yakir Aharonov from George Mason University in Virginia.
A donation from longtime Chapman supporters, the Schmid family, enabled Chapman to create the Schmid College of Science and Technology in May 2008. As the college grew, Chapman spun off the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences based on a donation by the Crean family. Through the years, the late John Crean, his wife, Donna, and the family’s Crean Foundation have supported a number of programs and projects across the campus.
Then Chapman added the “wet sciences,” including biology and molecular biology, and created a pharmacy school. Having bolstered the sciences, Struppa said he considered it was a good time to revisit the engineering school goal. As soon as he became Chapman president last year, he again presented the idea to faculty, along with the university’s trustees.
From Scratch
But Chapman needed a building in which to house the school. Struppa, with the approval of the trustees, decided to build a new science building, which is scheduled to be finished in about a year. Chapman recently announced that the building will be named The Keck Center for Science and Engineering based on a $21 million gift from the Los Angeles-based W. M. Keck Foundation. It will contain 100,000 square feet for the Schmid College and 40,000 square feet for the engineering school. The Keck Foundation supports science, engineering, medical research, undergraduate education and community and health efforts, including the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
The school will be called the Fowler School of Engineering. The couple’s $45 million donation followed a $55 million gift they gave to Chapman’s law school in 2014.
Chapman will start offering engineering classes next year at Schmid College, and Struppa said the engineering school will open in the fall of 2020.
The university will differentiate its school from others in the region by way of smaller classes and cross-pollination with other Chapman colleges, such as the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, especially on topics like virtual reality, Struppa said.
He said he’s looking forward to the day when Chapman engineering students will interact with local industries in a tangible way.
“Professors and students in engineering are working on problems of immediate interest to our neighbors, so that will make the university more relevant.”
Fowler said the job prospects for future Chapman engineering graduates will be solid. “I think that pretty likely almost every grad will have a job offer before they leave.”
Business Contribution
Kiani said that Masimo—in conjunction with Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker Microsemi Corp. and med-tech company Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, a German company whose U.S. office is in Dublin, Calif., and that maintains an OC presence through Global President of Ophthalmology Jim Mazzo—will partner with Chapman to support future engineers. Each company plans to provide $40,000 scholarships to five engineering students for the full four years to cover the majority of tuition, he said. The companies also intend to provide internships to foster professional development and long-term relationships with students.
“We encourage our colleagues in the Orange County technology industry to make similar commitments, “Kiani said. “Together, we can ensure that tomorrow’s most talented are given the opportunities they need to succeed. And we will all benefit from their innovative work in the years to come.”
