February 27, 2006
Jack Baskin inducted into Silicon Valley
Engineering Hall of Fame
By Tim Stephens
Jack Baskin, whose steadfast support led to the establishment
and rapid growth of the Baskin School of Engineering at UCSC,
was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame
at a ceremony on Friday, February 24. The induction ceremony
was part of the Silicon Valley Engineering Council's annual
Engineer's Week Banquet at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara.
Jack Baskin's gift of $5 million helped launch
the Baskin School of Engineering.
Photo: r. r. jones
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The Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame recognizes local
engineers for outstanding professional achievement and significant
contributions to the Silicon Valley community. The other inductees
this year are Thomas Kailath, Hitachi America Professor Emeritus
at Stanford University; Sass Somekh, president of Novellus Systems;
and Lotfi Zadeh, professor of electrical engineering and computer
science at UC Berkeley.
Baskin has been actively supporting engineering programs at
UCSC for over two decades, providing guidance to faculty and
university leadership as well as generous financial support.
In 1997, his gift of $5 million helped launch the Baskin School
of Engineering. His donations to the engineering school now
total almost $8 million.
Baskin earned a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from New York
University and built a successful development company that worked
on commercial, industrial, and public construction projects
throughout California. He has served as a UCSC Foundation trustee
since 1978 and was honored last year as the first recipient
of UCSC's "Fiat Lux Award."
The Jack Baskin School of Engineering, UCSC's first professional
school, has emerged as a distinctive engineering school with
a unique focus on the critical areas of information technology,
biotechnology, and nanotechnology.