Music school to be renamed

After receiving a record $40.6 million donation, the IU School of Music has been renamed the Jacobs School of Music. \nThe donation, from David and Barbara Jacobs, is the largest single gift given by individuals to IU and, nationally, the biggest donation to a music school at a public university. University officials will make the announcement at a ceremony at 10:30 a.m. today at the Musical Arts Center auditorium, said Ryan Piurek, an IU spokesman. \nDavid Jacobs Jr., son of Barbara and David, will be at the event as well as IU President Adam Herbert.\n"It was really an amazing gesture on the part of the family," said Gwyn Richards, dean of the music school. "There are no restrictions on what we can do with the money, and that doesn't happen very often. They just wanted us to use it in the best interest of the school." \nThe school plans to use $20 million for graduate student fellowship endowments, $10 million for undergraduate scholarship endowments and will establish three new endowed faculty positions, according to a release. New positions within the school will include the Dean Charles H. Webb Chair in Music, the Henry A. Upper Chair in Music and the David H. Jacobs Chair in Music. IU will also match some of the funds, providing even more scholarship money, Richards said.\nDistributing the money will be the responsibility of the financial aid office within the Jacobs School of Music. The money will be invested, and profits made from funds will be endowed to those chosen for scholarships and fellowships, Richards said. \nHe said the school decided to earmark most of the funds for endowment scholarships because of a goal to provide all deserving students with an education from the highly-ranked program. \n"This extraordinary gift will add even greater luster to one of Indiana University's brightest jewels," Herbert said in a statement. "We are profoundly grateful to Barbara and David Jacobs for their generosity, which will enable our School of Music to attain even higher levels of excellence in performance, scholarship and creative activity." \nThe gift was just one of many contributions the Jacobs family has provided for the music school and the University through the years, Richards said. The late David Jacobs earned a bachelor's degree in business at IU in 1947, and he went on to spark the revitalization of downtown Cleveland. Between 1986 and 2000, he and his brother Richard owned the Cleveland Indians for about 15 years, according to a release. Jacobs Field, where the Indians currently play, also bears the family name. \nBarbara, a 1948 IU graduate, has been instrumental in creating endowed faculty positions throughout the University, according to a release. Barbara and David Jr. were not available for comment at press time.\nAlthough the school now officially will be called the Jacobs School of Music, an official naming ceremony will take place in late February, Piurek said. \n"As a former student of Indiana University School of Music, I have observed many great triumphs of the school over the past 30 years," David Jr. said in a statement. "I hope that my mother's gift will ensure that the excellence for which the school is known will continue long into the future. Nothing would be more gratifying to me than to know that talented and deserving young musicians will be able to pursue a superb musical education because my mother cared"