Established in 2006 with $250,000 in gifts from friends of Jerre D. Noe, complemented by $250,000 in matching funds
This endowment honors Professor Jerre D. Noe's visionary leadership in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington.
A leader of SRI's ERMA project, which pioneered electronic banking, Jerre was recruited to the University of Washington in 1968 to become the first chair of the Computer Science Group and its graduate program. Jerre guided the Computer Science Group to Sieg Hall, departmental status, and the introduction of a Bachelor's program in 1975. He concluded his term as chair in 1976 and resumed activity as a faculty member, most notably as the leader of the Eden Project. The Eden Project - to construct an "integrated, distributed, object-oriented system" - received the first award in the National Science Foundation's Coordinated Experimental Research Program, established the University of Washington as a leader in computer systems research, resulted in the University of Washington's early connection to ARPANET, and contributed significantly to UW being ranked among the top ten computer science programs in the nation in the National Academies 1982 assessment of doctoral programs.
Jerre retired as Emeritus Professor in 1989. Throughout his UW career, he played a leading role in establishing the culture that guides Computer Science & Engineering to this day.
He passed away on November 12, 2005.
Holders of the Jerre D. Noe Professorship
Gaetano Borriello, 2006 until his untimely death in 2015
Jeffrey Heer, 2019-present