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HOUGHTON — Through the generosity of an estate gift of $1 million, an endowed professorship will be established in the Department of Computer Science at Michigan Technological University.
An additional $500,000 gift
will provide postdoctoral fellowship support within the department.
The gift from Donn and Liza Schneider, of Green Bay, Wis., ensures their estate will provide $1 million to establish the Donn and Liza Schneider Endowed Professorship in Computer Science.
Min Song, chair of Computer Science, said the Schneiders’ contribution advances the mission of the department “to build a strong research and teaching environment that prepares students to learn, discover and innovate new knowledge in computer science.”
With computing being one of the fastest changing and influential disciplines, Song says it’s important for the
department to conduct state-of-the-art research on a global scale.
“The Schneiders’ estate support will take a leading role in the
educational and research programs of the CS Department and provide opportunities for CS faculty and students to conduct cutting-edge research,” Song said. “The generosity of the donors will further help to promote the CS relationship with national and international communities.”
Song said the Department of Computer Science’s ability to attract and retain the best faculty, which in turn helps attract the best students, is key to the success of its mission. Permanently invested gifts from private donors are needed to help support competitive salaries, teaching technologies, research and other needs of top faculty.
The remainder of the estate gift, $500,000, will be used to support
postdoctoral fellowships in computer science. The names of Donn and Liza Schneider will be linked with all postdoctoral fellowships awarded from the estate gift fund.
Song said the fellowships are crucial to the success of the
department. “Funding for postdoctoral fellowships is key to the success of the department,” he said. “They will substantially stimulate the intellectual growth of, and have a longstanding impact on, its academic programs.”
Liza Schneider said she, and her husband Donn, a Tech alumnus, wanted to make a gift that meant something.
“We don’t believe in charity,” she said, “We believe in philanthropy.”
