IBM is a long-time supporter of U.Va.

By Charlotte Crystal

The new classroom at the Manassas manufacturing plant of Dominion Semiconductor, a joint venture between IBM and Toshiba Corp., is only one of the many ways in which IBM Corp. has enriched academic life at the University.

In the late 1980s, IBM established strong recruiting ties with the McIntire School of Commerce and the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. Pleased with the quality of its U.Va.-educated employees, the computer manufacturer sought to expand its ties with the University, said Michael Van Vranken, a business consultant and retired IBM business executive who remains active as a liaison between IBM and U.Va.

In the 1990s, IBM and U.Va. discussed projects of mutual interest, which led to a $1.3 million grant in 1992 to establish the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. IATH, which garnered wide national publicity, put U.Va. at the forefront of universities exploring ways of combining new technologies with traditional disciplines, such as history and archaeology.

Since 1993, IBM has given U.Va. more than $10 million in gifts -- cash, equipment and other support -- to encourage and sustain a number of research initiatives in business, engineering and the humanities, making it the largest corporate donor to the University's current fund-raising campaign, according to the Office of Development.

IBM has supported such U.Va. programs as the Virginia Institute for Microelectronics, biomedical engineering, environmental sciences, biology, mathematics, physics, and education. It has also helped fund scholarships.

This academic year, IBM arranged a Shared University Research grant, which will allow Darden, McIntire and the Engineering School to obtain $1 million in IBM equipment for a new interdisciplinary initiative in e-business.

"We are grateful for the confidence in U.Va. that IBM has shown through its continuing generosity," said Gene Block, vice president for research and public service. "We continue to work with IBM to find the best matches between our interests and capabilities."