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IU School of Music Receives $40.6 Million Gift
Release Date: 11/17/2005
World-renowned school to be known as the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Special Note: The IU Foundation regrets to report that Barbara Jacobs, a great lady and a dear friend to Indiana University, passed away on Tuesday, November 29, 2005.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University President Adam W. Herbert announced Thursday (Nov. 17) the naming of the IU School of Music in honor of the late David H. Jacobs and his wife, Barbara, of Cleveland. The school will be known as the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in recognition of Barbara and David Jacobs' long history of leadership and service to Indiana University and to the IU Foundation, as well as their gift of $40.6 million for the school.
It is the largest single gift for a school of music at a public university. It is also the largest single gift ever given by individuals to IU.
The Jacobs School of Music -- which will begin its second century in 2010 and is considered one of the world's preeminent institutions for the study of music -- will use $20 million of the gift to endow graduate student fellowships and $10 million to endow undergraduate scholarships. The gift also establishes endowed faculty positions, including the Dean Charles H. Webb Chair in Music, the Henry A. Upper Chair in Music and the David H. Jacobs Chair in Music. Additional funds will be used to support a number of varied initiatives within the school.
The Jacobs gift qualifies for matching funds set aside by IU for the purpose of supporting endowed scholarships, fellowships and faculty positions. This will effectively double the annual distribution of income earned on the gift in these areas.
"This extraordinary gift will add even greater luster to one of Indiana University's brightest jewels," Herbert said. "We are profoundly grateful to Barbara and David Jacobs for their generosity, which will enable our School of Music to attain even higher levels of excellence in performance, scholarship and creative activity. It is with great pride that we name one of the nation's best music schools in their honor.
Jacobs School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards said the gift will make a transformative difference in the school's ability to realize its long-term goals.
"It is impossible to overstate the meaning of this gift to the School of Music," Richards said. "It provides for student support, faculty chairs and discretionary funding which when coupled with university matching funds creates an extraordinary resource with which to realize the aspirations of our school. The Jacobs have placed in our hands a more certain future, freeing us to plan long term, extend our reach and strengthen core values. We are indebted to them for their foresight, for their commitment to public education and for their interest and dedication to the cultural life of our nation."
David and Barbara Jacobs' son David Jr., who was instrumental in inspiring the gift, said, "As a former student of Indiana University School of Music, I have observed many great triumphs of the school over the past 30 years. I hope that my mother's gift will ensure that the excellence for which the school is known will continue long into the future. Nothing would be more gratifying to me than to know that talented and deserving young musicians will be able to pursue a superb musical education because my mother cared."
