Central OC Times

The University of California, Irvine has announced the establishment of the Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence at its Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences. This development comes after a $2 million donation from SAP SE, a German company known for its enterprise applications and business AI software.

"UC Irvine has been a global leader for research in artificial intelligence for decades, and the establishment of the Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence will further strengthen that position," stated Marios Papaefthymiou, Dean of the Bren School since 2017. He highlighted SAP's contribution as part of their mission to advance human-centered computing technologies.

Philipp Herzig, Chief Technology Officer at SAP, remarked on the significance of this partnership: "Recognizing Hasso Plattner’s legacy in creating one of the world’s preeminent software companies, this endowed chair forms a lasting foundation for further expanding the frontiers of information technology. We are delighted to partner with UC Irvine to help advance artificial intelligence by collaborative research and prepare tomorrow’s leaders in this vital technology field."

The funding aims to support new graduate and undergraduate courses in AI, foster interdisciplinary research projects, create alliances with industry partners, and enhance computing infrastructure. It will also enable mentorship opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers focusing on AI-related fields.

To mark this occasion, UC Irvine plans to host an event featuring a lecture by the appointed faculty member holding the new chair position.

Hasso Plattner is recognized as one of SAP's co-founders who served as CEO until 2003 and chaired its supervisory board until 2024. He attributes his educational success to his time at Germany's University of Karlsruhe.

This initiative is part of UC Irvine's Brilliant Future campaign launched on October 4, 2019. The campaign seeks $2 billion in philanthropic investment aimed at enhancing student success, health initiatives, and research capabilities across various fields.

UC Irvine was founded in 1965 and ranks among America's top public universities. Known for its academic achievements and innovation contributions, it remains an essential economic player within Orange County.

For more details about UC Irvine or media access inquiries involving interviews with faculty experts via an on-campus studio facility equipped with Comrex IP audio codec technology—subject to availability—please refer to their official website resources provided above.