ICS Celebrates and Mourns Two of Its Staunchest Champions

Ted Smith

Philanthropist and staunch ICS supporter Ted Smith passed away last week at age 95, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy of commitment to the school’s mission and to UC Irvine at large.

Ted joined the UC Irvine Foundation Board of Trustees in 1997. He received the UC Irvine Alumni Association’s Lauds & Laurels Award for Outstanding Community Friend in 1998 and the university’s highest honor, the UCI Medal, in 2002.

Together with his wife, Janice, Ted generously established the Ted and Janice Smith Family Foundation Endowed Dean’s Chair at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences over 20 years ago. Their generous commitment continues to enrich teaching, research, and student success today. Ted also lent his leadership to the ICS Leadership Council, where his commitment and vision were deeply valued.

“Ted was one of the first people to welcome me to ICS when I joined in 2017, and he remained a close friend and trusted advisor throughout the years,” said ICS Dean Marios Papaefthymiou. “On behalf of the entire ICS community I would like to extend our condolences to Ted’s loving wife, Janice, their children and their families. We are deeply saddened by his loss, but we also rejoice at his remarkable life and the enormous impact he’s had on our school and the university.”

Beyond ICS, Ted’s philanthropy touched nearly every corner of the university, including UCI Health, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, the School of Education, the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, the School of Medicine, Beall Applied Innovation, the Paul Merage School of Business, and more.


Bob Kleist

Another long-time ICS and UC Irvine supporter, Bob Kleist, passed away last month at the age of 96, having enriched the lives of countless students through his commitment to our school.

Together with his wife Barbara, Bob generously established the Bob and Barbara Kleist Family Endowment to support undergraduate computer science students transferring from community college, and the Robert A. and Barbara L. Kleist Chair in Informatics, currently held by Prof. Gillian Hayes, to support research and graduate education.

Bob and Barbara were generous donors to many areas of the campus, including Engineering, Health and Arts. Bob participated as a member of the Chief Executive Roundtable for many years. He also served on the Leadership Council of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

“Bob believed in the importance of enriching the lives of others. Through his philanthropy, he has provided enduring opportunity for our students and faculty to fulfill their educational aspirations and pursue high-impact research,” said Papaefthymiou.  “We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family.  We are profoundly saddened by his loss, yet we are inspired by his lifetime of extraordinary accomplishments and generous support of others.”