Cal Poly receives $60 million for applied computing endowment

California Polytechnic State University’s Noyce School of Applied Computing has received a $60 million gift to establish an endowment that will fund the school’s operations for decades to come, the university announced May 8.

The interdisciplinary school is the first of its kind, combining three departments—electrical engineering, computer science and software engineering, and computer engineering—with statistics joining as an affiliate. The endowment will enable administrators to develop state-of-the-art facilities, new interdisciplinary research and co-curricular opportunities, “inspir[ing] students and faculty to grow and be the next industry trailblazers,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said.

The gift comes from the Robert N. Noyce Trust, which honors the Intel founder and Silicon Valley icon after which it is named.

“Our students are going out into the leading-edge industrial companies,” said Amy Fleischer, Dean of the College of Engineering. “They’re going to change the world and the education that we’re going to provide here in The Noyce School will help them do that.”

The demand for graduates with an applied computing degree far outpaces supply, the press release noted. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of jobs in computing and information technology is expected to grow 15 percent from 2021 to 2031.

Endowed financial support for the Noyce School will allow Cal Poly to increase the number of qualified students who attend its programs, Armstrong said. “Through this generous gift from the Robert N. Noyce Trust, Cal Poly will be able to educate more students to solve the challenges of tomorrow.”