This Megadonor Couple’s Latest Gift to a Favored University Follows Past Criticism

Susan and Henry Samueli, whose wealth comes from Henry's tenure as cofounder of semiconductor giant Broadcom Corporation, were top philanthropic supporters of the University of California Irvine long before they made their most recent $50 million gift to the institution's school of engineering. And unlike some of their past giving to the school, this gift seems fairly straightforward and praiseworthy.

Worth an estimated $10 billion (they also own the Anaheim Ducks hockey team) the Samuelis have given several large gifts over UC Irvine's history, and their names are dotted throughout the campus. These include $200 million in 2017 to establish the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, $30 million for the Samueli Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building and a $20 million naming gift to the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

Their newest gift of $50 million supports the establishment of three multidisciplinary "Engineering+" research institutes, focusing on the development of engineering solutions for health, society and the environment. Institute leaders aim to transform how engineers work with specialists from other fields to create solutions for some of the world's most pressing concerns.

Henry Samueli graduated from UCLA, not UC Irvine, receiving a BS, MS and Ph.D. in electrical engineering. But Henry's background as a University of California alum is presumably at least partly responsible for the couple’s strong support for UC Irvine — not only is the school part of the UC system, it is particularly noted for its strength in science, tech and engineering.

Signatories to the Giving Pledge, the Samuelis are among the leading philanthropists in Southern California's Orange County through their Samueli Foundation, though some grantmaking goes out nationally. The foundation supports education, youth services, Jewish culture and values, and integrated health in Southern California, with an emphasis on local partnerships and collaboration.

Too much influence?

When megadonors like the Samuelis give so much to one school, it’s worth asking whether their resulting level of influence at the school is appropriate, and how much leeway is too much following a big gift. This most recent contribution for UC Irvine’s engineering school seems fairly innocuous, but back in 2017, that much bigger $200 million gift sparked controversy due to its support of research into what's known as integrative health, a longtime interest of the Samuelis.

The UC Irvine website says the donation created "a first-of-its-kind College of Health Sciences focused on interdisciplinary integrative health," which positioned UCI "as a bold, new leader in population health, patient care, education and research." Not everyone agreed at the time. Many in the medical community voiced sharp criticism for the Samuelis' gift, saying that integrative health and other forms of so-called alternative medicine, such as homeopathy, aren't based in science and have no place at a medical school. UCI's research leaders countered that integrative medicine researchers at the institution would study so-called alternative therapies in a fully scientific manner to speed development of useful innovations in healthcare and medical science.

The debate was a notable example of the concerns that many in philanthropy circles, IP included, have cited about wealthy donors’ potentially improper levels of influence over universities to which they make mega gifts — influence, as we've said, that is especially out of place at public institutions such the schools in the University of California system.

Furthermore, the gift for integrative medicine research wasn’t the only time UCI dealt with Samueli-related controversy. Back in 2008, after Henry Samueli pleaded guilty to making a false statement to federal investigators in a case about alleged backdating of stock options, UC Irvine administration officials reportedly considered taking the unusual step of removing the Samuelis' name from schools at the university, though evidently, the school opted to keep the names in place.

Embracing interdisciplinary research

Whatever you may think of the value of integrative medicine or the severity of the financial crimes investigation and Samueli’s guilty plea, the couple’s new gift to UC Irvine’s engineering school seems like a great and sensible idea. It centers interdisciplinary practice, and engineering is and has always been an inherently interdisciplinary field: Engineers exist to build tools and solutions in virtually every area of modern life.

The three institutes the Samuelis are backing at UC Irvine are part of a new "Engineering+" concept — there’s the Engineering+Health Institute, the Engineering+Society Institute and the Engineering+Environment Institute. In addition to the Engineering+ institutes, a portion of the gift will create a new Office of Inreach, which will work to help UCI engineering students thrive at a social, personal and professional level while at school.

"The way we're structuring the institutes is that projects will have to have researchers from multiple disciplines," said Magnus Egerstedt, dean at UCI's school of engineering. "With these institutes, we're trying to create structures around multidisciplinary research and activities so researchers are incentivized to do this work. Often in universities, we tend to say we like multidisciplinary research, but then our offices and structures aren't organized to support that."

The Engineering+ institutes will start operations early next year. Obviously, specific research projects have yet to be determined, but the need for such solutions is readily apparent. For example, researchers in Engineering+Health will explore potential tech-based solutions to develop the next generation of medical devices and solutions, Egerstedt said. But he expects researchers will also seek ways to use technology that more efficiently deliver today’s healthcare to the many people and communities who lack access to doctors and care. "It doesn't only have to be high-tech brain surgery," he said. "It's also the day-to-day patient interactions."

Research in the Engineering+Society Institute will also take on thorny questions such as the fair and safe use of artificial intelligence and other technologies, Egerstedt said.

As for the issue of undue megadonor influence in higher ed, a lot of it comes down to subjective value judgements about the degree of influence and what, if anything, is wrong with the donors in question. Some donors are clearly toxic, and we’ve seen examples of schools courting them well after their objectionable deeds become known, as well as instances where schools or other recipients return money from donors who are generally considered toxic (or decline to do so). Likewise, there are plenty of instances in which lavish megadonor giving to universities causes concerns about potential excessive influence, especially when the schools involved are publicly funded.

I don't think the Samuelis are remotely toxic donors, and I don't think the Engineering+ initiative they're enabling is an example of undue influence. But I'd agree with the critics who said that the 2017 gift to advance alternative medicine crossed a line. And while institutions like UCI are lucky to have megadonor champions, in the end, control of educational institutions should stay in the hands of educators — with donors providing valuable support, but rarely if ever setting the terms of research or instruction.

Featured