Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas has announced a $30 million gift from the O’Donnell Foundation in support of the university’s data science institute and engineering programs.

Half of the naming gift bolsters the O’Donnell Data Science and Research Computing Institute, which was launched in 2020, by providing an endowment and operating funds for the institute for technology and hardware used by faculty, as well as funding for start-up research, two endowed professorships, and an endowed associate director position. The other half of the gift will support the Initiative for Digital Innovation in Engineering and Computer Science in the Lyle School of Engineering by providing funds for three endowed positions for department chairs in the program, as well as four endowed professorships and support for PhD students and postdocs.

“The exponential creation of data and the need to understand it is profoundly changing the way universities must approach both educating students and pursuing research,” said SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs Elizabeth G. Loboa. “Data literacy for our students combined with the capability to use sophisticated computer modeling and artificial intelligence toward research is crucial to meeting many challenges here in north Texas and around the world. The O’Donnell Foundation’s gift is a major step for us in meeting those goals.”

“Peter and Edith O’Donnell left a remarkable legacy of supporting education in North Texas and beyond,” said SMU president R. Gerald Turner. “This gift from their foundation is a milestone for us because it provides critical support for our decade-long strategy to strengthen SMU as a center for applying the latest technology to enhance innovation and learning.”

(Photo credit: Flickr/Shawn Hill)