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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
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Qualcomm Puts Up $25 Million to Aid Schools

College students and their counterparts in the K-12 system will get some help leaping the “digital divide” when their campuses start spending a multimillion-dollar donation from Qualcomm Inc.

The money may also help UCSD create a telecommunications and information systems research institute.

Qualcomm has announced plans to donate $25 million to four local organizations over five years, beginning with its 2001 fiscal year.

Some $15 million of the Qualcomm gift could serve as matching funds for the proposed research institute, which would be headquartered at UCSD.

UCSD and UC Irvine officials are proposing a joint Institute for Communications and Information Technology, according to a statement released by the university.

The university system plans three institutes for science and innovation. “The core objectives of the institutes are to ensure and expand California’s technological leadership and economic prosperity, and to apply these technologies in ways that will enrich the lives of people everywhere,” read a statement released jointly by Qualcomm and the university.

University of California campuses are competing to host the institutes, and the state Legislature has yet to approve funding for them, said Denine Hagen, the engineering school’s director of communications.

Qualcomm and UCSD officials announced that together, they will structure new investments for chairs, professorships, fellowships and scholarships primarily in the School of Engineering and the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. The Qualcomm gift would be spread over five years.

Some $6 million would go to San Diego State University over three years, to benefit both business school and teaching college programs. They are:

– The Entrepreneurial Management Center of the College of Business Administration;

– The Center for Research of Mathematics and Science Education, which brings together researchers interested in studying how people acquire knowledge in math and science;

– The College of Education, to bolster the skills of people training to teach math and science in grades K-12.

Another $1 million would go to CSU San Marcos to support the fledgling university’s College of Business Administration. The gift would be split over two years.

A final $3 million would go to a new, nonprofit organization, the Foundation for the Improvement of Mathematics and Science Education. Qualcomm announced it would work with other unnamed San Diego organizations to improve math and science education in area classrooms. Specifically, the foundation would work with the San Diego Unified School District and the higher education community on teacher training and curriculum development. The gift would be spread over three years.

Qualcomm announced the $25 million gift in mid-April, as President Bill Clinton announced efforts to bridge the “digital divide” separating those who have and use information-age technology, and those unable to do so. Company chairman and CEO Irwin Jacobs accompanied Clinton at the East Palo Alto announcement.

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