A multimillion-dollar gift from a Grinnell College alum and technology pioneers will help the private university transform its computer science offerings for students, with funds going to faculty, equipment and more.
Grinnell College announced in a news release Monday it received a $10 million gift from the Robert N. Noyce Trust to create an endowed chair in computer science and scholarship for students with financial need, as well as endowed funds for scientific equipment and curriculum development. A portion of the gift will also go into the college’s Pioneer Fund, which addresses the college’s “most pressing needs,” the release states.
The endowed chair will use the largest portion of the gift at $4 million, with the rest of the funds split evenly between the scholarship, curriculum and equipment funds. The equipment fund will also go toward maintenance and upgrades “that support teaching and research in the sciences.”
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“As one of the key founders of technologies that shape how we live and learn, communicate and collaborate every day, Robert Noyce exemplified the power of imagination and the courage to seize opportunities with transformational potential,” said Grinnell College President Anne Harris in the release. “This gift from his wife Ann Bowers not only honors Robert’s devotion to Grinnell but also provides generations of Grinnellians with support to meet challenges and rise to opportunities that haven’t yet been imagined.”
According to the news release, Noyce was born and raised near Grinnell, graduating from the local high school and earning physics and mathematics degrees from Grinnell College in 1949. He was a cofounder of the Intel Corporation and holds a patent for his “principal discovery of the integrated circuit.” Noyce also served as a Grinnell College Trustee and has previously donated to the institution. He died in 1990.
Ann Bowers, Noyce’s wife, became chair of the trust’s board after her husband’s death, according to the release. A Cornell University graduate, Bowers worked at Intel in the 1970s as director of personnel and at Apple as the company’s first vice president of human resources, the release stated. She also served as a Grinnell College trustee from 1991-1992 and the Cornell University Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science is named after her.
Computer Science Department Chair Peter-Michael Osera said in the release the endowed chair will be the 10th “faculty tenure line” in the department, and the number of computer science majors at Grinnell have grown from just 13 in 2015 to 144 this year, many of whom are seeking additional majors in other areas of the university.
A 2023 post-graduate survey cited by the release stated 97% of computer science graduates are either working in their area of study or pursuing further education at their first- or second-choice institutions.
“It is my sincere belief that this generous bequest will inspire others to support Grinnell’s brilliant and dedicated faculty and students as they teach, learn, and discover together,” said Bernadine Douglas, vice president of development and alumni relations, in the release. “Robert Noyce was the force behind discoveries that shape how we live today, but he was also known as ‘The Mayor of Silicon Valley’ because he recognized the power of collaboration and the potential for technology to have a positive influence on people’s lives. It will be exciting to see how these principles, which he and Ann Bowers held dear, will be reflected by the faculty and students who benefit from this gift for years to come.”
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