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College of Engineering to hold renaming ceremony
Mandie Mohsenzadegan
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: News
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The endowment is the largest private individual gift in the history of the university, according to Joy Leighton, the director of communications in the college.
Belle Wei, dean of the newly titled Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering, said that she is very excited about the naming ceremony and that the endowment is "a gift to transform the college."
Stephen D'Esterhazy, a senior chemical engineering major, said, "It's always nice to find former students who do well in the industry to come back and help out with bettering their former colleges."
He also added that he hopes the money will also go toward new equipment.
"I know some of our equipment is almost 30 years old," he said.
An Oklahoma native, Davidson moved to San Jose in 1952 and graduated from SJSU with a degree in civil engineering in 1957. Along with creating his own private civil engineering firm, he was also a real estate developer and started five companies, including DKB Homes, a Bay Area home development company, according to a news release from the College of Engineering.
The ceremony will include speeches from President Don Kassing, Dean Wei and Davidson.
Lina Melkonian, director of development in the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering said, "This is an incredible gift, not only to the College of Engineering, but to San Jose State University. It's a vote of confidence from Mr. Davidson that San Jose State continues to be a vibrant institution. We are very excited to have him as our philanthropist."
Melkonian said, "It's really critical that however way we use these funds, it is targeted toward retaining and educating top technology professionals."
Wei said that some of the funding will be going toward a new freshman engineering course in which students would do a variety of energy projects.
Ping Hsu, associate dean of undergraduate studies, said, "Mr. Davidson's endowment allows us to do things we wanted to do when the resources were not there, and this will allow us to really provide the best education we can for our students."
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