Gates Foundation gives $30M to UT for computer science center
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
One of the largest philanthropic donations in the University of Texas’ history was unveiled Wednesday.
Bill and Melinda Gates have contributed $30 million to help complete a new $120 million facility on The Forty Acres.
Inside the new computer science facility bearing his name, legendary software visionary Bill Gates received a warm welcome from the hundreds in attendance.
"It's very exciting to think about all the things that will happen here," Gates said.
In honor of the massive donation, the state-of-the-art facility has been named the Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex.
Gates wasn't the only computer giant to contribute to the new center. The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation chipped in $10 million on a neighboring computer science hall which now bears their name.
"We are ranked number eight in the country. We are the strongest computer science department within a thousand miles of Austin,” Bruce Porter, Computer Science Chairman, said. "With this new facility and all of these new initiatives that it will enable, I foresee us climbing into the top five."
But as Gates points out, it's interest and passion—not necessarily degrees—that leads to innovation.
"It's kind of unusual that two of your biggest donors are drop-outs,” Gates joked.
For the first time in school history, the new complex allows for all computer science classes to be taught under one roof.
The university pitched in an additional 80 million dollars to help complete the building of this facility.