$50M Endowment Establishes New Computer Science, Engineering School at UW

The University of Washington took an ambitious step today to assert its leadership in computer science education, research and entrepreneurial innovation with the establishment of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. The Board of Regents voted to name the school after Allen—the internationally renowned entrepreneur, philanthropist and computing pioneer—in recognition of his longstanding support for the mission of the University of Washington (UW) and computer science education. A $50 million endowment for the new school will propel UW to the forefront of computer science education and innovation for generations to come.

“There’s probably no institution that has had a greater influence on me than the University of Washington. I spent hour after hour in the UW library devouring everything I could on the latest advances in computer science. And it was access to UW computers as a high school student that served as a springboard for the eventual launch of Microsoft,” Allen said. “So it is a great honor to have the school of computer science and engineering named after me. We are entering a new golden age of innovation in computer science, and students and faculty will be at its leading edge. My hope is that the school will have the same influence on them as it did on me—that they will continue to dream big, breaking through technological barriers and using their skills to solve some of the biggest problems our world faces.”