The University of California–Irvine (UCI) received its largest donation ever at $35.5 million from alumni Paul and Jo Butterworth, university officials announced Feb. 13.
The gift will support the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, specifically for student scholarships and to finance new research initiatives, according to university officials.
“We are enormously grateful for this generous contribution …” Marios Papaefthymiou, the dean of the school, said in a statement. “This gift will serve as a strong and enduring foundation for supporting student success in our school well into the future.”
UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman said the Butterworths are longtime donors, whose contributions have been “substantial and highly effective” for the university and its students.
“With this new gift, they have further cemented their place among the greatest champions of students at our institution,” he said.
Besides being the co-founder and chief technology officer of software developer Vantiq Inc., based in northern California, Paul Butterworth serves on several boards and committees for the university. He was also inducted into the Bren School’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
“UCI is where I began my career as a computer scientist and software engineer,” he said in a statement. “You could say UCI is where all of my success really started.”
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s in computer science from UCI in the 1970s, being one of the discipline’s first graduates, according to university officials.
Jo Butterworth earned her bachelor’s degree in 1975 from UCI’s School of Social Sciences, university officials said.
