Joseph J. Jacobs
Shown to the left is the booklet Dr. Joseph J. Jacobs published by Polytechnic University in the Giants of Poly collection. The booklet describes the early, professional, and philanthropic life of Joseph J. Jacobs. This was published for the groundbreaking of the Joseph J. and Violet J. Jacobs Builiding (Jacbos Academic Building) on May 18, 2000 and was given to the attendees in order to provide a brief background on the people that this construction was dedicated to. Below is a biographical description of the Jacobs derived from the booklet.
Jacobs, a first-generation son of Lebanese immigrants spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn, New York. He attributes much of his success to the lessons he learned there, as they impressed upon him the importance of family, education, perserverence, and self sufficiency.
After working 40 hours a week in the evenings to fund his schooling, he earned a bachelors degree in chemical engineering from Polytechnic in 1937, where he studied under Donald Othmer. Later on, he taught college to gain a masters and doctorate in the field.
Although he found great professional success as a young engineer at pharmaceutical company Merck and Co., aiding them in the production of DDT and penicillin, Jacobs strove to make his own mark.
After World War II, he moved to California with his wife, Violet to seek fortune in a sudden post-war economic boom. In 1947 he founded a one-man consulting engineering business in Pasadena. This grew rapidly into a firm that is now the third largest engineering firm in the United States, worth billions of dollars. This immense growth was thanks to risky external acquisitions and business savy internal decisions.
Throughout his life, Jacobs was awarded top honors such as election to the National Academy of Engineering and the Hoover Medal. He was an avid philanthropist and became Polytechnic's first lifetime trustee. He served twice as chairman of the board and led the university through immense financial hardship.
According to his biographical Giants of Poly pamphlet, Joseph and Violet gave away over $100 million to projects celebrating education, job creation, and community improvement over a span of 30 years. In 1999, they gifted $20 million to Polytechnic University for capital projects, including a $10 million challenge gift. Under the terms of this challenge, Jacobs pledged to match 2 to 1 the first $50,000 of any gift, up to $10 million total. For this contribution, Polytechnic University honored Jacobs by building their new academic center in his name, whos construction finished in 2001.
Despite being an alumnus of Polytechnic University, Jacobs was not as active with the university post-grad as his mentor Donald Othmer. Instead, he was more focused corporate landscape, running the Jacobs Engineering Group. Since Jacobs wasn't associated with Polytechnic professionally, the naming of the Jacobs Building occured due to the tremendous donation he made.
Shown here is an image of the original building that Polytechnic University had purchased as its main academic site. Following the donations to the university made by Jacobs, Poly decided to change the name of the building in honor of him. Using part of the donation, they commissioned the architecture firm Davis Brody Bond to renovate the academic center in a full remodel that would feature new athletic facilities, laboratories, and classrooms. In 2002, NYU Polytechnic opened the doors to the building pictured below.
