Qualcomm founder Irwin Mark Jacobs and his wife, Joan, have made a $133 million gift to Cornell University and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology to create the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute (JTCII). The institute will cost an estimated $2 billion. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Cornell President David Skorton and Technion President Peretz Lavie announced the donation at New York City Hall.
Jacobs is a graduate of Cornell, where he studied hotel management and electrical engineering. He has a Ph.D. from MIT, where he later taught for several years. Joan Jacobs is also a Cornell alumna.
New York City is excitedly waiting for the Innovation Institute, which has already received a $350 million donation from DFS Galleria founder Charles Feeney.
The Jacobs' fortune is estimated at $1.5 billion, and they are well-known philanthropists. Their donations include $260 million to the University of California, San Diego, as well as to both the Technion and Cornell.
The JTCII is a centerpiece of Cornell NYC Tech, which will have a permanent campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City. The gift will help support joint activities between Cornell and the Technion, including dual master’s degree programs, faculty, graduate students and industry interactions.
The Innovation Institute will offer a two-year interdisciplinary program for concurrent dual MAs, one from Cornell and one from the Technion. This degree program will allow students to specialize in applied information-based sciences in one of three hubs focused on leading New York industries - connective media, healthier living and the built environment - while honing their entrepreneurial skills. The first area of specialization will be in connective media and is slated to begin in the fall of 2014. Research will also be focused on the hub areas.
A novel Postdoctoral Innovation Fellows Program, to launch in fall 2013, will support individuals who seek to commercialize their research ideas at the JTCII while taking advantage of the entrepreneurial network of Cornell Tech and its proximity to New York City-based markets.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 23, 2013
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