$125 Million in Combined Giving Establishes the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing

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• Jade Griffin - [email protected]

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• Philanthropy and Giving

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The University of California San Diego has established the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing thanks to $125 million in support from alumnus Taner Halıcıoğlu '96. The school positions UC San Diego at the forefront of data science, artificial intelligence and advanced computing education and research.

The new school, which will be commonly known as the Halıcıoğlu School (pronounced haw-li-ji-oh-loo), serves as a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration, fueling breakthroughs across fields including health care, climate science, engineering and the social sciences. The school's vision is to advance data and computing to improve society and build a better future, and to prepare the next generation of highly skilled workers driving artificial intelligence advancements.

The Halıcıoğlu School unites the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI) - which was created with a $75 million gift from Halıcıoğlu in 2017 - and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) into a single, integrated school. Adding to his longstanding support, Halıcıoğlu recently pledged an additional $50 million, bringing his total giving to data science at UC San Diego to $125 million.

The school was first approved by the UC Board of Regents in July 2024, and the system-wide academic senate is anticipated to approve the new name later this year. The Halıcıoğlu School is one of 12 schools at UC San Diego - and just the fourth to be added in the 21st century. It brings together research, education, innovation and large-scale computing infrastructure to accelerate discovery and prepare the next generation of data-driven leaders.

"UC San Diego is at the forefront of research and education in data science and AI, and the Halıcıoğlu School represents a bold step forward in our commitment to advancing these fields for the public good," said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. "We are grateful to Taner Halıcıoğlu for his steadfast and visionary support as an alumnus and donor. His generosity continues to transform how we educate students and drive innovation across disciplines to benefit people around the world."

In 2017, Halıcıoğlu established the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at UC San Diego, which has grown in breadth and scope since that time. His gift has provided critical funding for student scholarships and fellowships, faculty research, lecturers, innovation grants, outreach and networking initiatives, as well as operations and infrastructure. That philanthropic support set the foundation for UC San Diego to establish the Halıcıoğlu School in Data Science and Computing less than a decade later - an accelerated timeline that reflects both the urgency and opportunity of the field.

With the San Diego Supercomputer Center integrated into the academic enterprise, the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing is home to one of the most advanced computing operations at any U.S. university, enabling breakthroughs powered by GPU clusters, data platforms and future accelerated-computing infrastructure.

"The Halıcıoğlu School represents UC San Diego's next leap forward in addressing the most compelling need of our times: transforming data into actionable knowledge to benefit mankind," said Rajesh Gupta, dean of the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing. "In addition to serving as an academic hub for AI-related innovation, collaboration and ethics, the new school is also building the capacity to ensure computing and data literacy for all our students and prepare them for an exciting future in AI-enabled professions."

The Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing will include the San Diego Supercomputer Center, making it home to one of the most advanced computing operations at any U.S. university.

The Halıcıoğlu School unites world-class researchers, industry practitioners, entrepreneurs and students within a single translational ecosystem, building a distinctive global brand at the intersection of AI, data science and computing that attracts top talent and industry partners.

Offering a broad portfolio of educational programs, including new master's degrees, certificate programs, on-ramp and bootcamp training, and hybrid and online formats, Halıcıoğlu School seeks to serve learners across the region, the nation and the world.

"Data science and AI are shaping our world, and UC San Diego is at the forefront of these fields," said Halıcıoğlu. "I'm proud of UC San Diego and pleased to support the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing as it advances education, fuels discovery and creates lasting impact that will benefit society."

Halıcıoğlu graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from UC San Diego in 1996. He went on to work for such companies as Loudcloud and eBay before landing at Facebook in October 2004, less than a year after the company was founded. Halıcıoğlu was Facebook's first full-time hire. As a software and operations engineer, he was instrumental in developing hardware infrastructure that enabled the social network's explosive growth.

He left Facebook in 2009 and served as a reliability engineer at Blizzard Entertainment before returning to UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering in 2013 as a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Halıcıoğlu remains active in industry sectors as an adviser and investor in San Diego area startups. He has also lectured and served as a mentor and adviser for students in the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute.

To learn more about the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing, please visit hsdsc.ucsd.edu.

Learn more about research and education at UC San Diego in: Artificial Intelligence