Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships Blog

Computer Science Alumnus Thomas Siebel Makes $100 Million Gift to University of Illinois:

Exactly how the $100 million will be used has not been determined yet. But the fund, called the Thomas M. Siebel Fund for Excellence in Science and Engineering, will focus on research on issues such as alternative energy, bioengineering and stem cell research. Money will go to graduate fellowships, endowed and chaired professorships, symposia and collaborative projects between the UI and other universities, businesses or government agencies. The money could also go toward a new building to house all these new programs.
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His company, Siebel Systems, donated $2.6 million in 2000 for the Siebel Scholars Fellowship Program in the Department of Computer Science.
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Siebel joined Oracle in 1984 as a systems engineer. Eventually he went into sales and by 1989 he was general manager of the company’s direct marketing. In 1990 he left Oracle for the software company Gain Technology and in 1993 he started he own company, Siebel Systems. In the fall of 2005, Oracle announced it would purchase Siebel Systems for $5.85 billion.

That last paragraph highlights the notion that I have mentioned on my personal blog - engineering education does not necessarily mean an entire career as an engineer. More CEO’s of S&P 500 companies majored in engineering than majored in any other field.