Alumni give $15 million to School of Engineering

By Michelle Jin     12/4/08 6:00pm

The engineering department will soon expand the diversity of its program content to include social lessons in leadership. Rice alumni John (Lovett '73) and Ann (Jones '75) Doerr donated $15 million to establish the Rice Engineering Leadership Center, which is expected to open next fall, Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering Sallie Keller-McNulty said. The Doerrs' contribution will be designated to helping Rice students remain at the forefront of new developments in engineering. The gift, specifically for the engineering department, was a rarity, since donations of such magnitude often go to the university as a whole, said Keller-McNutly, who also mentioned the donation will fill a need in the department.

"It's very difficult to find funding to support cross-cutting educational needs," Keller-McNulty said. "You can get grants for that, but they have short time horizons, so you get programs started and it's difficult to continue them in a sustainable way. A gift like this allows us to build some permanent infrastructure."

The Rice Engineering Leadership Center will focus on integrating ethics, sustainable technology and humanities with engineering, as well as enhancing students' professionalism.

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"[The Center] will be focused on things that transcend the boundaries of the department," Keller-McNulty said. "An example would be communications. What do we do to help our students develop really great communication skills? It's not just about writing, it's not just about oral communication - it's how you and I technically can interact, or how you as an engineer can explain to a politician something in engineering. It's aimed at how our students can gain really strong intercommunication skills."

Some of the Center's educational focus will be embedded in classroom courses, and others may be stand-alone programs. The faculty and the Center's external advisory committee, chaired by Ann Doerr, are in the midst of figuring out the specifics, but in the meantime, engineering faculty and staff are excited about the donation and its implications for students, Keller- McNulty said.

"A gift like this allows us to build some permanent infrastructure of people and programs to help our faculty think as creatively as they can and mount different kinds of programs and activities that will benefit our students in developing the skill sets for leaders and for entrepreneurs," Keller- McNulty said.

The Doerrs were in talks to give the donation for several years, until the gift was finalized a few weeks ago.

"Whenever we have a large gift like this, you always have a lot of conversation, to try to mold the gift into what benefits Rice University and what also meets the passion of the donors," Keller- McNulty said.

Including this gift, the Doerrs have contributed $22.5 million to Rice's Centennial Campaign, which aims to raise $1 billion by 2012. They also provided $2.5 million in seed funding for computational research of cancer programs and the financial means to endow two chairs, currently held by Computer Science Professors Krishna Palem and Keith Cooper.

The Doerrs earned their undergraduate and masters degrees in electrical engineering at Rice. John Doerr is a venture capitalist and Ann Doerr is an environmental activist. The gift comes from the Benificus Foundation, a private charitable organization established by the couple whose previous donations have supported schools and health-related initiatives.

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