NYU's Motivations

$100 million is no easy thing to turn down, but why agree to change the name to the Tandon School of Engineering when the name "Polytechnic Institute" has held true since 1954, and holds so much history as the 2nd oldest private school of engineering in the United States?

Largely, financial motivations. A document generated by the NYU Board of Trustees, found in Dibner Library and labeled "confidential" from the Poly Archives in 2004, brought up discussions of a dire financial situation. At the time, the school had a $130 million dollar endowment - and $90 million in debt. However, with the merger, the situation would only get worse. The documents indicate that NYU would have to make a significant financial investment to "build ex novo" - or revamp - the school. They compared the financial situation to that of Yale's, who at the time, was fundraising several hundred million dollars to revamp their own small engineering department. 

In terms of fundraising, the school had in the past been able to rely on consistent donations from the Jacobs family. According to Jeffrey L. Rodengen's, "Polytechnic University Changing the World: The First 150 Years," the Jacobs family had ties to Polytechnic going back to just past World War II - all starting with first-generation Lebanese-American class of 1937 graduate Joseph J. Jacobs. Joseph continued to maintain a relationship with the university by acting as an assistant professor of chemical engineering for around six years while he was working towards his masters and doctorate. He eventually began his own business - Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. - which today generates approximately yields $5 billion in revenue. Although he had unfortunately passed in 2004, he had made numerous large donations to the school over the course of his lifetime - a trend that his children seemingly were considering continuing before the fallout of the final deal. His first donation was offered to the school in 1975 on the condition that the school also fundraises to make a dollar-for-dollar contribution. In a speech outlining his motivations for donating to the school, he orated, "I am obviously proud of the formal training I received at Polytechnic. Its ideals have also been an inspiration. Poly was very important to me as a student. It was relatively small in those years, with an unusually close student-faculty identification. My professors contributed much more than knowledge to our development. Poly produced humanist-engineers and it still does, rather than cold, scientific professionals. I have always deeply valued the Poly experience" (Rodengen, 282). Jacob's reasons reveal deep sentiments, pride, and gratitude towards the school, which led him to make his own personal contribution to the school. 

According to the aforementioned Trustee documents, NYU was hoping for sizeable financial support from the Jacobs family in order to save the school. Linda Jacobs, as a member of the NYU Board of Trustees, was tasked with trying to convince her sisters to donate to the school again - with one (Violet) initially agreeing to donate $30 million, but eventually withdrawing her offer. Upon asking both her sisters again for support - this time for a much more humble $5 million - and failing, she had chosen to withdraw from the board. The school had lost a donation they were counting on and a connection to a relationship with a consistent donor all at once.

Following such trends and tragedy, it naturally follows suit that in the future, less than 10 years later, the school would jump at the chance of such a grand financial infusion - even with the possible loss of the historical name that Poly carried. Revamping the school, and keeping it modern, is important to maintaining prestige and ensuring that the school's equipment and environment was ideal for learning - which is what attracts prospective students to enroll. NYU's motivations are clear - for it to continue, it needed a large donation - and fast - at any cost. However, what would make a couple with no obvious ties to the school so unexpectedly make such a large donation?