Ohio State University is all set to establish a new on-campus centre and interdisciplinary program primarily based on software innovation and it owes all to a record-setting $110 million donation. The donation, received from the Timashev Family Foundation, was announced by trustees at Thursday afternoon’s full board of trustees meeting. It is the largest single gift/donation in history of Ohio State.
The Center for Software Innovation will be a new place within the West Campus Innovation District, now called Carmenton, where pupils will learn about the “intersections of software innovation, product management, entrepreneurship, sales and marketing.”
An Ohio State alumnus, Ratmir Timashev, said that the donation is a full-circle moment for him. He completed his master’s degree in chemical physics at Ohio State in 1996 and went on to build software and computer businesses in Columbus. Timashev’s companies — Aelita Software and Veeam — were giants in the tech world before they were taken over by Quest Software and Insight Partners, respectively.
Timashev said, “Over 30 years ago, I was the young student with big dreams, and it was the support of my OSU mentors and fellow students who gave me the opportunities to do what I’ve been able to do. I’m humbled to support the many talented Buckeye students and the future of this great university, to scale and soar even further.”
At Thursday’s board meeting, he received three standing round of applauses from trustees and university executives. He described the center as a multi-pronged endeavor that will make Columbus “the new high-tech mecca.”
The Center for Software Innovation will pledge a partnership with the College of Engineering, Fisher College of Business and other stakeholders across the state and region. Academic programs will start this fall.
The money will sponsor professors teaching software innovation, offer student scholarships and internships, and establish an incubator program to assist students and faculty. Timashev’s money gift also provides initial funding for the center to be housed on two floors of an entrepreneurship and research-focused building in Carmenton.
Timashev emphasised on the importance of having a center like this at Ohio State.
“Every business is a software business … all the money in the next 50 years will be made from software,” he said. This gift isn’t the first Ohio State has received from the Timashevs and their endeavors.
In 2020, the Timashevs donated $17 million for the Timashev Family Music Building, which opened its doors to students in October 2022. A software company, Veeam, founded by Timashev, gave $5 million to the OSU College of Arts and Sciences in 2016 to support student scholarships, teaching and research in data analytics and chemical physics.
“Just like the university’s emerging arts district is flourishing with the Timashev Family Music Building, we’re thrilled by the prospect of the Center for Software Innovation being at the heart of OSU’s vision to make Columbus the epicenter of the digital world for innovation and entrepreneurship,” Timashev said.
