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Virgil Elings Gives $1 Million to Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy
By Barbara Keyani | 
| Published on 12.17.2009
Virgil Elings has made a $1 million gift to the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy for the construction of a new facility at Dos Pueblos High School.
In recognition of the gift, the new building will be named the Elings Center for Engineering Education.
The Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy is a four-year integrated course of study in physics, computer science and engineering that enrolls 128 students. The academy is seeking to grow by building a 12,000-square-foot facility that will have laboratory and classroom space for 400 students. The capital campaign to match a $3 million California state grant to fund construction of the facility is led by the nonprofit Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy Foundation.
Elings’ gift is the largest contribution to date for the capital campaign. With his gift, the community has contributed $1.76 million to the campaign.
“Dos Pueblos is sincerely grateful to Dr. Elings for his extraordinary generosity, and we are pleased to have the new building bear the Elings name,” Dos Pueblos Principal Mark Swanitz said.
“We are so thankful for Virgil Elings to step forward once again and show such generosity for our students and their futures,” Santa Barbara School District Superintendent Brian Sarvis said.
Amir Abo-Shaeer, director of the academy, said, “Dr. Elings has chosen to invest in the future of education for our youth. The expanded DPEA will serve over 400 students and will provide a model for science and engineering education throughout California and the nation.”
Elings is a former UCSB physics professor who started and supervised a master’s degree program at UCSB in which students engaged in project-based learning. Elings also founded and built a Santa Barbara company, Digital Instruments, along with former students in the master’s program, that through rapid innovation was the world leader in its field. Elings would like to encourage and support the focus on project-based learning and innovation in the Engineering Academy.
For more information on the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, e-mail Abo-Shaeer at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). For information about the DPEA Foundation, e-mail Sandra Seale at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Those wishing to express appreciation to Elings for the gift can send an e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
— Barbara Keyani is coordinator of administrative services and communications for the Santa Barbara School District.
Comments
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» on 12.17.09 @ 05:12 PM
This is a fabulous program. If you haven’t seen there robotics demonstration do so when you can.
These are focused talented young people and they need our support.
Rather than fund raising for artifical turf at Dos Pueblos, please give to this excellant academic program. They desparately need facility space. They are not going to get it from the district in that they seem committed to funding athletic facilities not classrooms.
If you truly believe in academic excellance and the need for engineers in America’s future give now.
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» on 12.17.09 @ 07:55 PM
It is not only a fabulous program it is just the kind of investment we need to see in this great nation of ours, our youth. Thank you so much Mr. Elings for channeling your great altruism toward such a noble and lofty cause!
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» on 12.18.09 @ 09:48 AM
How much money would it take for the city of Goleta to change its name to Elings? Just wondering. So far we have: Los Positas Park, the pool at DP, a building at UCSB, and now a building at DP. I guess there are worse things one could do with his money. No one can dispute Virgil’s generosity.
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» on 12.18.09 @ 06:21 PM
What a generous and smart decision to donate to DPHS. The local schools really need the help and its really wonderful to see that some of the locals can be generous. We have such a wealthy community to have such worn out school facilities. Donating for our kids future will only improve the entire area.
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» on 12.20.09 @ 04:29 AM
Giving money to good causes is not something I will dispute. I daresay however that if I were in such a position to give such generous sums, I would do so with the understanding that the place not be named after me.
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» on 12.21.09 @ 11:51 AM
To Richard Foster - I agree that the Engineering Academy is fantastic and deserves any support it can get and that the students are “focused talented young people”. I do, however, take issue with your implication that student-athletes are not “focused talented young people” and that upgraded athletic facilities should therefore not be supported. Make the effort some time to check out the number of CIF Southern Section team Academic Championships that have been won by DP’s student- athletes. Not to mention the high level academic institutions to which many DP student athletes have been accepted….not as athletes but as students. To be such high achievers in school and athletics requires a great deal of focus, talent and support. It’s too bad you’ve turned this into an us-against-them thing rather than supporting the entire school activity population. Any high school student who participates in any activity deserves support for their participation. The Engineering Academy students aren’t the only good ones and adults who perpetuate this we’re-more-deserving-than-them mentality are a real problem. As to the district only funding athletic facilities; have you seen the beautiful new theatre, complete with classrooms, that was built at taxpayer expense? This beautiful facility supports both music and theatre arts programs and was long overdue on the campus, just like a decent football/soccer venue is long overdue. Oh, and one more thing about athletics; both the football and boy’s volleyball programs at DP donate money earned by their programs to support other non-athletic programs at the school. That’s the right attitude.
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» on 12.21.09 @ 04:55 PM
Tomahawkdeb
If it is not “uys” against them, then why did the athletic departmant start a fund raiser for fake turf while the engineering program was raising money for a $3,000,000 matching grant?
It is not a question of are atletics useful, but money from measure V that was supposed to be used for building classrooms and replacing tired portables was spaent instead on very nice pools that were never a part of measure V (except for repairs)
This is a school district not a rec department. If we can fully fund academic programs then athletics are fine, but if we are cutting teachers and programs then perhaps the district should forego the athletics and peerform the task of education.
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» on 12.27.09 @ 03:32 PM
To Richard Foster - What does a group fundraising for an athletic field have to do with a group fundraising for a new classroom facility? Why can’t both fundraise at the same time? Or is fundraising “your” territory? Every group on campus has financial needs. Are you upset with the Art teachers and the band director for soliciting funds? Get real. You seem to lack understanding about the Measure V situation. When the Measure was passed, a list was made for how to spend the money all around the DP campus and on other public school campuses. Unfortunately, in the period of time it took for the monies to actually get to the district and for the district to get plans and permits completed, the costs for construction materials and labor had skyrocketed, thereby creating the unenviable task of axing some projects. I’d be interested to know if the Engineering Academy complex was on the list and was axed. I think it may not have been because the Academy is fairly new and Measure V is fairly old. Additionally, the district provides very little support for athletics. Again, if you were to take the time to educate yourself on the issue, you’d find that except for the hiring of officials and some upkeep of the fields and buildings, athletics are self supporting through fundraising (uh oh, that’ll make you even more mad because they’re encroaching on “your” territory again) and conducting tournaments. You seem to think that boatloads of district money is spent on athletics and that is just not true. Plus, Richard, really? Forego athletics? Are you kidding?
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