Donorship Profile: How Endowed Chairs help make Technology Management great
Philanthropy is an incredibly important part of any university’s operations, but it is especially important for a public university like UCSB. For us in the Department of Technology Management, one significant source of donor support comes in the form of Endowed Chairs. These coveted chairs contribute heavily to the quality of our faculty lineup and the caliber of their research, as well as the accessibility of resources and funding for our students.
A short Q&A with Department Chair Paul Leonardi
Our department is thrilled to announce that we have five Endowed Chairs, and we have been fortunate to establish three of them within the last six months! Following this development, Assistant to the Chair Jamie Hu had the opportunity to sit down and learn more directly from Department Chair Paul Leonardi. In the Q&A below, he provides some important context about philanthropy, what an Endowed Chair is, and what that honor means for the department.
Q: What should we know about donorship in the Department of Technology Management?
A: I'm stealing this quote from Michael Abraham, who was an early donor to Technology Management—but it’s a good one. He told me that the way to think about philanthropy is this: the State of California provides the quantity of education, and the donors help to enhance the quality of education. And I've always liked that, because it’s true!
State funds allow us to teach our classes and hire faculty, but philanthropy goes beyond that. It allows us to create new programs, do things like our New Venture Competition, and attract the best faculty in the world. It helps us to provide scholarships that allow us to get the best students. It gives us the power to help those students when they need it the most, and to fund cutting-edge research from our faculty that helps propel our institution forward.
In Technology Management, we have access to knowledge from successful business people about how they built their businesses. One of the most rewarding aspects of being Department Chair is that I get to work with donors to create Endowed Chairs and faculty fellowships that align with the mission of our department, while also enabling these donors to build programming and capacity in the areas they value most.
Q: And what should we know about Endowed Chairs?
A: The first thing to know about Endowed Chairs is that the reason they have that name is that each one creates an endowment that a faculty member can use for research. The faculty holders of the Endowed Chair take the money they earn from the endowment, and put it toward exploring areas of significance for their department. In ours, that means work on AI and digital transformation. It means work on entrepreneurship for tech startups. It means focusing on how to rapidly scale a tech company. Faculty can also use that money to hire students to work on projects, to do data collection and analysis, and more.
The second thing to note is that Endowed Chairs are incredibly rare. An endowment for a chair usually comes from a private philanthropist or a company, and is a huge investment. Because of this, there are very few Endowed Chairs at any university, and so it stands that they’re a special honor for any faculty member appointed to one. This also makes them a powerful tool for recruitment and retention. When you're competing for the top faculty in the world, giving someone an Endowed Chair can be the difference between landing or losing them!
Q: Our department is lucky to have as many Endowed Chairs as we do. Can you tell us more about them?
A: We're really fortunate to have five Endowed Chairs. And what we're really excited about right now is the three new ones we've raised! The first one is the Investment Group of Santa Barbara Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Having this chair allowed us to attract a very distinguished scholar, Professor Christine Beckman, to come to UCSB. We wouldn't have been able to get her to come without it!
The second chair is the Sheldon Family Chair in Entrepreneurship. This chair was established by Chuck and Missy Sheldon, who are longtime supporters of our department, and particularly interested in entrepreneurship education. Their chair establishes more research in entrepreneurship and technology-based companies, and helps move us toward the goal of building academic programming for our undergraduate students so they can get credit for participating in our New Venture Program. That chair is going to be appointed to Professor Mary Tripsas, who is one of the world’s leading scholars in technology entrepreneurship.
And finally, the third chair is the Loi and Adel Nguyen Chair in Technology Management. The goal for this chair is to recruit a new professor focused on AI and changes in work at companies. We hope to recruit for that position soon!
About the Department of Technology Management’s most recent Endowed Chairs
Investment Group of Santa Barbara Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Donor: Reece J. Duca
Appointed faculty: Christine Beckman
Overview: This chair was established through the generous gift of $1 million from Reece J. Duca. Reece received his BA in Economics from UCSB in 1966, and his MBA from Stanford in 1968, and is the founder and managing partner of the private investment company Investment Group of Santa Barbara (IGSB). He’s had a long history with our campus, as he was a founding member of the Director’s Council for the Institute for Energy Efficiency, and a lead supporter of the IGSB Data Science & Data Analytics Accelerator Initiative. His donorship was also instrumental in launching our department’s Master of Technology Management Program. With this chair, he aimed to recruit a talented researcher and teacher in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship, and to further opportunities for undergraduate teaching, graduate education, and training in business, management, and entrepreneurship.
"It is gratifying to see the Santa Barbara business community step up to strengthen and help build the Technology Management department,” says Christine Beckman, the recipient of this chair. “Those ties and that support were part of the appeal of joining the faculty of TM, and I'm so thrilled to be here."
Sheldon Family Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship
Donor: Chuck and Missy Sheldon
Appointed faculty: Mary Tripsas
Overview: This chair was established through the generous gift of $1 million from Chuck and Missy Sheldon. Both have been committed supporters of UCSB for several years, and are passionate about using innovation and entrepreneurship to empower students to gain business experience through access to an entrepreneurial education. Regarding their careers, Chuck worked for IBM in sales and sales management and Missy taught elementary school as they moved across the country. Both were very active members of their community in Hermosa Beach. Chuck eventually founded and grew Network Hardware Resale (Curvature), which pioneered the resale of internet hardware, with his two sons in Santa Barbara. Chuck has long been a mentor in the New Venture Competition and an advisor to our department. With their chair, he and Missy aim to increase course availability for students interested in the basics of entrepreneurship. They hope to eventually lead to a minor in Entrepreneurship.
“We are proud to help creative students think about business, and how this great country enables entrepreneurs to succeed,” says Chuck about his donorship to the department. He then adds, “The New Venture Program is a winner!”
Professor Mary Tripsas, who is the recipient of this chair, adds, “As Vice Chair of our undergraduate Technology Management Certificate, I have been working to expand our entrepreneurship course offerings and, with Dave Adornetto, who runs our co-curricular New Venture Program, to create a more cohesive, integrated student experience. The Sheldon Family Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship provides a strong endorsement of these activities, and I am thankful for the support, which will help us to move forward.”
Loi and Adele Nguyen Chair in Technology Management
Donor: Loi and Adele Nguyen
Appointed faculty: To be appointed soon!
Overview: This chair was established through the generous gift of $1 million from Loi and Adele Nguyen. Loi’s career started in research at Hughes, after which he co-founded Inphi (NASDAQ: IPHI) in the fall of 2000. A startup that began in his family’s dining room would later become an industry leader in optical communications integrated circuits. Loi would then dive into research, now holding seven US patents with over 50 scientific publications under his belt. Adele, in partnership with Loi, works to raise awareness of the coexistence between wildlife and urban development. She’s a proud advocate for preserving habitats among human landscapes, and both she and Loi have supported many conservation efforts both in-country and abroad. With this chair, the couple aim to find a new faculty member for our department for scholars in technology management or entrepreneurship.
“Adele and I are proud to support such an important academic program at UCSB,” says Loi of his sponsorship. “Technology is evolving so quickly, and it’s more important than ever that future leaders know how to navigate and manage that change effectively.”
Final thoughts
One of the reasons that we’re so excited to highlight these Endowed Chairs, as well as philanthropy toward our department in general, is because it shows how much support from the community is rallying around technology management education and research. To pan back to Paul, he had a few more comments to add.
“We have a lot of momentum right now. Because of the education we give to our students, the practical focus of our research, and the help we provide companies, our department fosters an environment that encourages people to be innovative and grow,” he stressed. “Technology Management, as a department, is nowhere near capacity. We’re looking forward to creating more Endowed Chairs for senior faculty, but also fellowships for junior faculty. We want to provide the same kinds of resources for our assistant and associate professors that will allow them to build a strong pipeline of research and funding for our students. If you or anyone you know would like to be part of our story, please don’t hesitate to reach out!”
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