Emulex Corporation Establishes Endowed Chair at UC Irvine

The Henry Samueli School of Engineering receives $1.5 million for electrical engineering and computer science faculty position           

With the support of $1.5 million from Emulex Corporation, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine will establish the Emulex Endowed Chair in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.  The Emulex Endowed Chair will allow the Samueli School to further its commitment to scholarly excellence and its vision for technological and engineering leadership.


“Emulex is a strong supporter of education and educators,” said Jim McCluney, president and CEO, Emulex Corp. “UC Irvine is a prestigious university that continues to develop strong electrical engineering and computer science expertise in our community. Our endowment will help UC Irvine teach the next wave of engineers and scientists, enabling companies, such as Emulex, to continue to innovate and bring new products to market.”


The funds will be used to support the teaching, research and service activities of the faculty who will be hired in this position after an extensive national search.  


“Endowed faculty positions allow The Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine to attract and retain the best faculty in the world to better serve our students and to effectively collaborate with industry on research,” said Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos, dean of the Samueli School.  “I am pleased the Samueli School continues to strengthen relationships with local industry as we strive to advance innovation and growth.”


The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is committed to the promotion of an integrated view of the electrical engineering field ranging from microscopic (and even nanoscale) devices to architectures, communications and software design.  The department includes more than 20 research groups focused on areas as diverse as embedded systems, computer networks, middleware, real-time systems, micro-electro-mechanical systems and nanotechnology, communication systems, machine intelligence, and neural and soft computing. 


“With the advent of large-scale, ubiquitous computing and communications, the research topics of storage systems, security and technology have been at the forefront of concerns for computer scientists and users alike,” said Jean-Luc Gaudiot, Ph.D., chair and professor of electrical engineering and computer science.  “This endowment will further strengthen the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in promoting and addressing concerns in technologies where we have just broken the surface, and allow us to make significant contributions to our world in the near future.”

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science will be relocated to the new building, Engineering 3, which is due to be completed in August 2009.  For more information, please visit the Samueli School website at www.eng.uci.edu.