To honor the legacy of the late Susan Wojcicki ’90, a trailblazing know-how chief and former CEO of YouTube, Harvard dedicated the Susan Wojcicki Library at the Science and Engineering Complex earlier this spring. The occasion introduced collectively President Alan Garber, different University leaders, college, college students, and the Troper Wojcicki household.
Named in her reminiscence by way of a $20 million reward from the Troper Wojcicki Foundation, the library’s location — at the center of the advanced — is designed as an area to foster cross-disciplinary alternate and collaboration. The reward additionally supplies versatile discretionary funding to the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to help early-stage college analysis, graduate college students, and investments in computing and laboratory assets, fueling work in areas corresponding to synthetic intelligence; local weather, power, and sustainability; and engineering options that enhance human well being.
At the dedication, Garber mirrored on Wojcicki’s ties to Harvard and the importance of the Troper Wojcicki Foundation’s reward.
“I can’t imagine a more fitting expression of [Susan’s] connection to the University and her commitment to changing and improving lives and making a difference in the world,” he mentioned.
This reward builds on Wojcicki and her husband, Dennis Troper’s, legacy of philanthropic help throughout Harvard, which incorporates seed grant funding for the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, fellowships by way of the Harvard Data Science Initiative, and graduate fellowships in laptop science at SEAS.
He famous that the Troper Wojcicki Foundation’s help will assist college students and college at the advanced and throughout SEAS deal with among the best challenges going through society at this time. “We are so deeply grateful to you, Dennis, and to the entire Troper Wojcicki family,” Garber mentioned.
“Here, Susan’s legacy will be visible to future generations of students who will use this space to solve problems, collaborate, and develop the skills they need to become the next generation of leaders in science and technology,” mentioned dean of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences David Parkes. “I want to thank Dennis and the Troper Wojcicki family very much for their transformational support of the work we do and the community we foster here at [SEAS].”
University Librarian Martha Whitehead underscored the significance of this legacy. “The Susan Wojcicki Library, like Susan herself, is a connector,” mentioned Whitehead. “Situated in the middle of the SEAS community, it serves as a doorway into the world’s largest academic library and collections that will spark new ideas and fuel innovation.”
Wojcicki graduated from Harvard College with a focus in historical past and literature, however her time at Harvard was marked by a curiosity that prolonged past any single area. She labored in Widener Library as an undergraduate and, as a senior, enrolled in “Introduction to Computer Science” — the one humanities concentrator within the class. Her intuition to cross disciplinary traces would outline each her profession and her imaginative and prescient for what know-how may make doable. At Google and YouTube, she rose to change into one of many business’s most influential leaders, guided by a conviction that nice concepts emerge at the intersection of various methods of considering. She was additionally identified for recognizing the promise of recent concepts and creating pathways for alternative.
Wojcicki remained carefully related to the University all through her life, serving on the Global Advisory Council, the Committee on University Resources, and the University Task Force on Science and Engineering. Her service mirrored a longstanding dedication to bringing folks collectively throughout areas of experience and increasing alternative for the following era.
In his remarks, Troper shared his reflections on Wojcicki, their life collectively, and why the library is such a becoming place to bear her identify.
“It is so moving that this space is now the Susan Wojcicki Library. May this library be a sanctuary for the bold, a lab for the curious, and serve as a reminder to every student here that no matter what your major is, you have the power to change the world.”
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