CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.,
Nov. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --
University of Virginia School of
Engineering Dean Craig H. Benson announced Friday the
largest gift in the school's history.
Greg Olsen, a 1971 Ph.D. alumnus
of the Materials Science and Engineering Department, has pledged
$25 million to recruit and retain
star engineering faculty, attract outstanding Ph.D. students and
provide the dean of engineering and the chair of the department
with additional funding to support strategic initiatives. The total
impact of Olsen's gift will be $36.5
million when combined with $11.5
million in matching funds from UVA's Bicentennial Scholars
Fund and Bicentennial Professors Fund.
"As a world-class researcher himself, Greg Olsen exemplifies the power of engineering
to make the world a better place," Benson said. "With his generous,
future-focused investment, Greg is ensuring that UVA Engineering's
capacity to attract outstanding scholars and produce future
engineering leaders is very strong for generations to come."
Olsen's historic gift follows the University's public launch of
Honor the Future, a $5 billion
fundraising campaign. UVA Engineering launched its portion of the
campaign on Oct. 11 with a goal of
raising $250 million.
"The School of Engineering has been building momentum for years
now, and this gift will help them take another giant leap," said
UVA President Jim Ryan. "I am
grateful to Greg Olsen for his
generosity, and for his belief that the best way to pay back a
life-changing experience is to give a new generation of students
the same opportunity."
Olsen's investment, with its $36.5
million total impact, enables:
- A $15 million endowment for
Olsen Bicentennial Professorships, providing resources for UVA
Engineering to recruit and retain leading scholars who will drive
collaborative research, create knowledge and technologies to
benefit humanity and cultivate an environment of educational
innovation. From this funding, $5
million will be designated for a professorship in the
Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
- A $16.5 million endowment for
Olsen Graduate Fellowships, helping UVA Engineering
recruit the world's top Ph.D. students to hone their skills and
accelerate their drive for discovery, while gaining exposure to
modern research problems and a broad understanding of the practical
applications of their research. From this funding, $10.5 million will go toward fellowships in the
Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
- A $5 million Dean's Strategic
Investment Fund, giving Benson and Materials Science and
Engineering Department Chair John R.
Scully resources to respond quickly to opportunities, such
as providing hands-on learning experiences for students, developing
innovative courses, boosting graduate student recruitment,
enhancing diversity programs and modernizing facilities.
Olsen's gift comes at an important time for UVA Engineering,
when the school's sponsored research program has grown by 75% since
fiscal year 2016, driven in part by a 30% increase in the number of
faculty and a 64% increase in Ph.D. students since 2014. The
Department of Materials Science and Engineering has added 12
faculty members since 2016.
"Greg is a great advocate and a tremendous external adviser for
UVA, the Engineering School and the Department of Materials Science
and Engineering," said Scully, the Charles Henderson Chaired
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and department
chair. "He understands that to have an excellent department, you
must have excellent faculty, outstanding students and superb
facilities and capabilities. In this regard, he is helping us earn
the equivalent of a triple crown."
Scully said his department has approximately 70 to 80 Ph.D.
students in a given year now, and Olsen's gift will help the
department progress toward a goal of 125 Ph.D. students or
more.
"Ph.D. students are enablers at universities," he said. "They
enable research, develop novel ideas and generate new science. They
are also lab instructors and role models for undergraduate
students. Greg's commitment to helping us grow our Ph.D. program
will have an enduring impact."
Olsen is dedicating his gift to his own former Ph.D. adviser,
materials science and engineering Professor Emeritus William A. Jesser. Olsen was Jesser's first
doctoral student back in 1968, and Jesser went on to chair the
department for 12 years.
"He gave me confidence in myself because he helped me with my
Ph.D. thesis. And when I was finished, I felt I had really
accomplished something, and I could go out into the world and be a
professor or researcher. I have an incredible amount of gratitude
toward him."
Jesser said he is extremely honored by and appreciative of
Olsen's recognition. "Greg is just that kind of person. He feels
good about doing good."
After earning his Ph.D. at UVA in 1971 and completing a
post-doctoral research assignment in South Africa, Olsen went to work as a research
scientist for RCA Laboratories' David Sarnoff Research Center,
advancing the understanding of how atoms moved in semi-conductors
and LEDs.
In 1984, Olsen co-founded EPITAXX, a manufacturer of fiber-optic
detectors, which are like tiny solar cells that turn light into
electrical signals; Olsen made the detectors less expensive to
produce, and now anyone who has fiber-optic cable, internet or
phone service at home is probably benefitting from EPITAXX's
technologies. The company sold for $12
million in 1990.
In 1992, Olsen co-founded Sensors Unlimited, a near-infrared
camera manufacturer that enabled technologies such as night vision
and cameras that can detect the difference between ice and water on
aircraft wings. That company initially sold for $600 million in 2000.
In October 2005, Olsen became the
third private citizen to orbit the Earth during a trip to the
International Space Station. Through his current company, GHO
Ventures, Olsen invests in entrepreneurial ventures.
All told, Olsen has been awarded 12 patents and has written more
than 100 research papers. He is a fellow of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers and was elected to the
National Academy of Engineering – the profession's highest honor –
in 2010.
During his career, he has remained close to Jesser, to the
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and to the
University as part of the UVA Alumni Association.
In 2000, Olsen made what was then the largest-ever gift to the
Engineering School – $15 million
toward the construction of Wilsdorf Hall, named for two of his
other esteemed professors, Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf and her late husband
Heinz Wilsdorf.
"Greg is a role model for alumni engagement," said UVA
Engineering's Associate Dean for Advancement Niles Eggleston. "He
gives the gifts of his time, talents and treasure, and it is an
inspiration to all of us."
About UVA Engineering: As part of the top-ranked,
comprehensive University of Virginia,
UVA Engineering is one of the nation's oldest and most respected
engineering schools. Our mission is to make the world a better
place by creating and disseminating knowledge and by preparing
future engineering leaders. Outstanding students and faculty from
around the world choose UVA Engineering because of our growing and
internationally recognized education and research programs. UVA is
the No. 1 public engineering school in the country for the
percentage of women graduates, among schools with at least 75
degree earners; the No. 1 public engineering school in the United States for the four-year graduation
rate of undergraduate students; and the top engineering school in
the country for the rate of Ph.D. enrollment growth since 2015.
Learn more at engineering.virginia.edu.
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Mather, Executive Director
of Communications
eat6bx@virginia.edu; 757-319-3664
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SOURCE UVA Engineering