Prominent Silicon Valley philanthropists John and Susan Sobrato have given $100 million to Santa Clara University to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, the institution announced Saturday. The gift will pay for a 300,000-square-foot complex that will integrate the university’s engineering and natural-science departments and contain laboratories, classrooms, and spaces for student projects.
The donation is the first nine-figure donation in the university’s history and among the largest-ever gifts to a Catholic college, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
“This historic gift will accelerate our vision of leveraging our academic excellence, Jesuit values, and Silicon Valley relationships to forge imaginative solutions to the urgent challenges we face,” university president Michael Engh said in a statement.
It is also the first nine-figure donation by the Sobrato family, which made its fortune in commercial real estate in Silicon Valley. Forbes pegs the family’s net worth at $5.9 billion.
The Sobratos are longtime supporters of the university. Mr. Sobrato, an alumnus and board member, and his family gave $20 million to the institution in 2007 to help build a new library and commons area.
Discussions about the $100 million gift started two and a half years ago, after the university developed plans to take a more interdisciplinary approach to its science, technology, engineering, and math programs, said Jim Lyons, vice president for university relations. .
The new Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation will bring undergraduates studying physics, mechanical engineering, and biology together in the same location to facilitate collaboration.
John and Susan Sobrato, along with their son John Michael Sobrato, signed the Giving Pledge in 2012. They promised to give away all of their wealth during their lifetimes or leave it to their family foundation upon their deaths.
Much of the family’s charity has gone to local institutions. The Sobratos have previously given or pledged $20 million to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, $15 million to the University of San Francisco, $5 million to Valley Medical Center, $5 million to National Hispanic University, $10 million to Bellarmine College Preparatory high school, and $1.25 million to build the Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School.
