Dean's message
Arrived and Rising
September 2023
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25 years ago, Irwin and Joan Jacobs set their name on the School of Engineering here at UC San Diego. By entrusting us with their name, they put the School on a new course that changed everything – for the better. Their gift engaged a process of rising, a process of growth, and a process of research broadening and thus impact. I’m grateful for the momentum that Irwin and Joan imparted to the school. Each and every day, I see the artifacts of that continued momentum as we advance engineering and computer science for the public good.
Recently, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of this naming among an intimate group on the lawn of Franklin Antonio Hall. We were joined by an important cast of players who all helped to ensure that Irwin and Joan’s momentum was fully imparted to the school. The event was wonderful. One of the common themes from the day was just how far-reaching and numerous the positive impacts of our naming gift has been – and continue to be. Transformative philanthropy is not a term I use lightly, and that’s precisely what we came together to celebrate. To all our event speakers, thank you for your contributions, your memories and your insights.
Seeing Irwin and Joan at the center of this wonderful collection of dedicated people who all worked together to build the foundations and launch the Jacobs School gave me great pause. It took me some time to get my head fully around what was accomplished together. It compelled me both to look back and to look forward. As I look back, I am proud to say that the Jacobs School of Engineering has arrived. And as I look forward, I see that we will be rising still.
Irwin and Joan have been at the very core of our School’s public identity for 25 years. Of course, they engaged with and cared for engineering at UC San Diego in many ways long before the Jacobs School came into existence. Did you know that in 1981 Irwin and Joan created the first endowed chair at UC San Diego?
We are celebrating the moment when Irwin and Joan decided to make the big commitment, and I am grateful to them that they did.
In closing, I’d like to give my broad thanks to everyone, past and present, who has helped create, sustain and grow the Irwin and Joan Jacobs School of Engineering. To our students, staff, faculty, industry partners, donors, friends, advisors, alumni, elected officials, the people of California: thank you. Thank you for all for all the ways you commit to the Jacobs School.
I hope that you believe – as I do – that the Jacobs School of Engineering long-ago arrived as a force for the public good – and is rising still.
Read our full 25th Anniversary story here. Read our September 2023 Jacobs School news email in HTML or as a PDF.
Sincerely,
Al
Albert ("Al") P. Pisano, Dean
UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering