Buildings filling to the Bren at UC Irvine

Marisa O’Neil

A big donation and a passed bond initiative are giving the nationally

ranked School of Information and Computer Science a new name: The

Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences.

University officials announced on Wednesday that the Donald Bren

School of Information and Computer Sciences will break ground on a

new building Wednesday and recognize its benefactor. Bren, chairman

of the Irvine Co., donated $20 million to the school in December.

Until Wednesday, it was an anonymous gift.

“Providing the gift in December allowed the school to begin

recruiting [faculty] immediately, at an important juncture,” said

Irvine Co. spokeswoman Jennifer Hieger. “[Bren] wanted the focus to

remain on the school and its building momentum, knowing he would be

recognized down the road.”

Bren’s $20 million tied the largest donation ever received by UCI.

In 1999, Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan,

donated the university’s other $20-million gift, to what is now known

as the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

Since 1984, Bren has donated about $43 million to the university,

Hieger said.

He chose the School of Information and Computer Science, upgraded

from a department to its own school in 2002, because of its

accomplishments and vision, Hieger said.

“Though he has a background in real estate, he realizes that

technological innovation is at the heart of economic health and

vitality,” she said.

The donation will provide more than $18 million for 10 newly

endowed faculty positions. Debra J. Richardson was officially named

the school’s dean in March.

The school will be housed in a new, six-story building, to be

named Bren Hall, and is scheduled for completion in 2006. About $35

million from school-improvement bonds Proposition 55 and Proposition

47 last November will go toward construction, UCI spokeswoman

Michelle Williams said.

“It all came together, not quite simultaneously, but we had an

amazing year -- becoming a school, the bonds getting passed, getting

the gift,” Richardson said. “This is really a transformational gift.”

Bren’s donation will allow the school, ranked 15th nationwide by

U.S. News & World Report for computer science graduate programs, to

attract senior faculty to the school, Richardson said. The school is

planning to recruit faculty who will research “ubiquitous computing,”

or small computers that are in everyday use for medical and other

applications.

Other campus buildings with Bren’s mark are the Bren Events Center

and the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, named for his late

stepmother and Academy Award-winning actress.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.