The University of California, Irvine (UCI) has announced an estate gift valued at approximately $35.5 million from alumni Paul and Jo Butterworth in support of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS).

The largest pledge to UCI from alumni will be allocated in a variety of ways, including awards, student scholarships and fellowships, new research initiatives, and faculty chairs. Longtime benefactors of UCI, the Butterworths are sponsors of the Butterworth Product Development Competition, which encourages students’ software innovations, teamwork, and entrepreneurship. Paul Butterworth (’75), the co-founder and chief technology officer of enterprise software developer of Vantiq Inc., has been a member of the UCI Foundation board of trustees since 2011.

“We are enormously grateful for this generous contribution from Paul and Jo Butterworth to the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences,” said Marios Papaefthymiou, the Ted and Janice Smith Family Foundation dean of ICS. “This gift will serve as a strong and enduring foundation for supporting student success in our school well into the future.”

“I was considering not going to the university unless I received financial aid, because I didn’t have any money. But when UCI came through with a package to help out, that made all the difference in the world,” said Paul Butterworth. “This is what inspired us to pledge support for students—so they can follow their dreams despite their financial situations.”

(Getty Images/Sefa Ozel)