Donation from SAP Establishes New UC Irvine Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence
Funding will support education, research and industry collaboration around AI
Irvine, Calif., March 13, 2025 — With a $2 million gift from SAP SE, a German supplier of enterprise applications and business artificial intelligence software, the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine has established the Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence, named after SAP’s co-founder, long-serving CEO and longtime supervisory board chairman.
“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,” said Marios Papaefthymiou, Ted and Janice Smith Family Foundation Dean of the Bren School since 2017. “Through this endowment, SAP joins us in our school’s mission to help shape the future by advancing human-centered computing technologies.”
SAP Chief Technology Officer Philipp Herzig said, “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 funds supporting the faculty member holding this chair will enable the development of new graduate and undergraduate courses in AI, facilitate the initiation of interdisciplinary research projects, foster alliances with industry partners, and support advanced computing infrastructure. They will also enhance the chairholder’s ability to mentor graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, helping prepare them to excel in AI-related research and work in academia and industry.
To formally inaugurate the Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence, the Bren School plans to host a public event featuring a lecture by the faculty member named to the position.
Hasso Plattner is a German businessman who co-founded SAP in 1972, rising to the level of CEO before stepping down in 2003. He served as chairman of the company’s supervisory board from 2003 to 2024. Plattner received a tuition-free education at Germany’s University of Karlsruhe, which he has said he considers the foundation of his success.
This press release originally appeared in UCI News.