Date: 10/20/2008

Don Beall to Receive San José State University's Highest Honor

Contact:
Pat Lopes Harris, SJSU Media Relations, 408-924-1748

SAN JOSE, Calif., -- San José State University has named SJSU alumnus Don Beall as the recipient of its 2008 Tower Award. The Tower Award is SJSU's highest honor, bestowed upon an alumnus or friend of the university whose exemplary community or professional leadership has positively impacted education and society as a whole. Beall will be the guest of honor at the 38th Annual Tower Award dinner on Thursday, October 23.

"SJSU is pleased to present Don Beall with this award in recognition of his many contributions to the university," said SJSU President Jon Whitmore. "Don believes strongly in the value of engineering and science education, which are crucial to the innovation and entrepreneurial process that leads to a stronger America, and he has generously supported San José State's engineering college."

In 2007, Beall made a $4 million gift establishing the Don Beall Dean of Engineering, San José State's first named deanship. The gift provides Dean Belle Wei and future deans of the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering with funding to support multidisciplinary programs in areas such as green engineering, biomedical device engineering, global experiential learning, business education for engineers, and professional development and practice for engineering students. Beall is also an honorary member of the SJSU Engineering Leadership Council and the SJSU Heritage Society for alumni and friends who include San José State in their charitable estate plans.

Visionary Leader and Philanthropist

Don Beall, visionary leader and philanthropist, retired from Rockwell in 1998 after a 30-year career. He served as president of the company for 10 years and then as chairman/CEO for the next 10 years. Under his leadership, Rockwell became a global leader in aerospace, electronics and automotive markets. Through a series of strategic actions, the company became focused on a diversified group of leadership electronics businesses serving factory automation, communications, avionics, and various communications semiconductor world markets. Those electronics businesses today are represented by five public companies through which significant shareowner value has been created.

Beall serves as a director on the boards of Rockwell Collins and CT Realty. He is a former director of Conexant Systems, Mindspeed Technologies, Jazz Semiconductors, Skyworks Solutions, Proctor and Gamble, Amoco, Rockwell, and Times Mirror. Currently, he is a partner in Dartbrook Partners (a family partnership) and the chairman of the Beall Family Foundation. His wife, Joan, and their two sons, Jeffrey and Kenneth, are active in the management of both Dartbrook Partners and the Beall Family Foundation. He is an overseer of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and has received many honors, including the Horatio Alger Award.

An alumnus of San José State, Beall earned his B.S. in metallurgical engineering in 1960 and an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1961. He is involved in numerous professional, educational, public service and philanthropic endeavors.

Read more on giving to SJSU.

Read more on the 38th Annual Tower Award dinner.

Download a photo of 2008 Tower Award recipient Don Beall.

San José State -- Silicon Valley's largest institution of higher learning with 32,800 students and 5,700 employees -- is part of the California State University system. SJSU's 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation's 10th largest city.