Temple University’s College of Engineering recently received its largest gift in the school’s history, writes Ryan Mulligan for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Brian Butz, a professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at Temple and his wife, Susan, a 1985 Temple graduate, gifted the school $2.5 million.

The donation will go toward expanding the school’s artificial intelligence work and create an endowed chair position that will oversee the college’s AI research.

Butz was an early adopter of AI, helping lead research projects at Temple during the 1990s. 

This is not the first gift the Butzes have given to Temple. The couple twice donated $100,000 to create an engineering scholarship and to support research at Temple’s College of Public Health, respectively. 

Their most recent donation more than doubles the College of Engineering’s previous record of $1 million.

Dean Keya Sadeghipour said that AI is being implemented “in every department” at the college and the endowed chair position will help with recruitment, amplifying, and expanding the school’s AI work.

“It’s really not targeted in a particular discipline, but rather AI as a whole and how it contributes to the rest of the university because it really goes across disciplines,” said Sadeghipour. 

Read more about the new donation that will help expand AI at Temple’s College of Engineering at the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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