University of Illinois System

Distinguished Service Medallion 2004

THOMAS M. SIEBEL

Mr. Siebel has been a generous supporter of the College of Engineering at the Urbana-Champaign campus. Mr. Siebel received a B.A. degree in history in 1975, an M.B.A. in 1983, and an M.S. in computer science in 1985, all from the Urbana-Champaign campus. The Medallion was presented to Mr. Siebel in September 2004.

 

Board of Trustees Minutes
September 9, 2004

AWARD OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES’
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDALLION

The Trustees’ Distinguished Service Medallion was created to recognize individuals whose contribution to the growth and development of the University of Illinois, through extraordinary service or benefaction, has been of unusual significance.

At this time Thomas M. Siebel is recommended as the recipient of the medallion. Mr. Siebel has been a generous supporter of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in many ways. He has served as a member of the college’s Board of Visitors since 1996, as a charter member of the External Advisory Board of the Department of Computer Science that was established in 2003, and he has been a frequent guest lecturer to the faculty and students of the Department of Computer Science. He is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Siebel Systems, Inc.

Mr. Siebel’s firm, the world’s leading provider of eBusiness applications, established the Siebel Scholars Program in computer science that provides an award of $25,000 to students to defray tuition costs and expenses for the second year of graduate study in computer science. Five students are now selected each year as Siebel Scholars.

In 2004, the Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science, made possible by a gift from Mr. Siebel, was dedicated on the Urbana campus. This gift to the Department of  Computer Science was by far the largest in the department’s history or in the college’s history. The goal for this 225,000 square foot center for research and teaching is to make the computer science program the best in the world, and to attract outstanding scholars who will redefine computing for the 21st century.

Mr. Siebel received a B.A. degree in history in 1975, an M.B.A. in 1983, and an M.S. in computer science in 1985, all from the Urbana campus.

In 2001, President James J. Stukel presented the Presidential Award and Medallion to Mr. Siebel in recognition of “commitment to excellence in software engineering, computer science research, and graduate education, and to his continuing commitment and generosity to his alma mater.”

Indeed Mr. Siebel’s contributions to the University of Illinois have exemplified “extraordinary service and benefaction and of unusual significance.”