Irvine, Calif., Feb. 24, 2025 — The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers named Henry Samueli, a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of electrical engineering & computer science and namesake of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, as the recipient of the 2025 IEEE Medal of Honor, its highest distinction.

Samueli is an IEEE fellow with a more than 50-year association with the organization and was recognized for his pioneering research and business acumen leading to the widespread growth and use of wired and wireless broadband communications technologies. He was also acknowledged for his generous support – with his wife, Susan Samueli – of science, technology, health, engineering and mathematics education and research at institutions in Southern California and beyond.

“Henry Samueli’s unparalleled contributions to the field of broadband communications transformed how the world communicates and laid the foundation for the modern digital era,” said Chancellor Howard Gillman.  “He is a true visionary, and we are proud and honored to count him among this university’s greatest supporters.”

Samueli is the first IEEE Medal of Honor laureate to receive the newly expanded prize of $2 million. The medal will be formally presented to Samueli in April at an IEEE conference in Tokyo.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the IEEE Medal of Honor,” Samueli said. “When I became a member of the IEEE as an undergraduate student at UCLA in the 1970s, I would have never dreamed that I would one day be bestowed the institute’s highest honor.”

Samueli earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at UCLA in 1975, followed by a master’s degree in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1980. In 1991, while he was a faculty member at UCLA, he co-founded Broadcom Corporation with one of his students. Today, the Palo Alto, California-based company is one of the world’s largest semiconductor and infrastructure software companies. Samueli holds more than 75 U.S. patents.

A legacy of giving

Henry and Susan Samueli have played a key role in UC Irvine’s growth over the past three decades. Through their foundations and other holdings, the Samuelis have made many major gifts to UC Irvine, including a $200 million pledge in 2017 to establish the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences. At the time, it was the seventh-largest gift ever to a U.S. university. In 2023, Susan and Henry Samueli donated $50 million to The Henry Samueli School of Engineering for the creation of three new multidisciplinary research institutes devoted to solving pressing problems in health, society and the environment.

Their legacy of giving can be seen across campus. A $30 million gift from the Samueli Foundation helped fund the construction of the Samueli Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building, expanding UC Irvine’s ability to conduct large-scale, collaborative and cross-disciplinary research in engineering, computing and physical sciences.

In 1999, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering received a $20 million naming gift, which in part endowed 10 chairs and professorships and funded two scholarships and one graduate fellowship. In addition, a $2 million endowment from the Samueli Foundation established the UCI/Israeli Scholar Exchange Endowment for Engineering Science Program in 2007, which supports research activities, international collaborations and educational activities with Israeli universities to build bridges between UC Irvine engineers and their Israeli counterparts, solidifying the Samueli School’s role as a global leader among engineering schools.

Upon launching the program, Henry Samueli said he hoped that it would “build new bridges between the engineering industry and the world’s great research universities, ultimately benefiting both science and industry.”

Integrative health

The Samuelis’ abiding interest in health and wellness is reflected in their $5.7 million gift in 2000 to establish the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine. The center has a leadership role in exploring the frontiers of complementary and integrative health. With the Samuelis’ 2017 gift to the health sciences, it has expanded to become the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute.

Other philanthropy

The Samuelis have made significant contributions to philanthropy, particularly in STEM education, integrative health, youth services and Jewish culture. They established the Henry Samueli School of Engineering & Applied Science at UCLA and the Sala & Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library at Chapman University. Additionally, they helped found the Samueli Academy, a public charter high school in Santa Ana that serves underserved and foster teens. Since the establishment of their foundation in 1998, the Samuelis have committed over $1 billion to philanthropic efforts.

UCI’s Brilliant Future campaign: Publicly launched on Oct. 4, 2019, the Brilliant Future campaign aims to raise awareness and support for the university. By engaging 75,000 alumni and garnering $2 billion in philanthropic investment, UCI seeks to reach new heights of excellence in student success, health and wellness, research and more.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

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