The future of Vanderbilt’s San Francisco academic campus has taken a monumental step forward. Pending approval, the campus’s flagship college will be the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture and Design made possible by a $75 million matching gift from the technology leader’s family.
The Huangs are both engineers. Jensen Huang founded the computer chip company NVIDIA in 1993 and serves as president, chief executive officer, and a member of the board of directors. NVIDIA is a leader in advanced chip systems and AI engineering software.
The gift also inspired philanthropic support from alumni and others, for a total investment so far of more than $100 million.
Vanderbilt San Francisco is set to open in 2027 with a national search underway for the college’s inaugural dean.
“San Francisco offers an extraordinary environment for learning across art, architecture, design and culture,” Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said. “With the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture and Design, Vanderbilt is positioning these branches of creation as the heart of our San Francisco campus. This college, together with additional academic programming under development, will prepare creative leaders to shape culture, industries and communities in San Francisco’s thriving economy, nationally and around the world. In partnership with the city and surrounding community, we will blend Vanderbilt’s distinctive excellence with San Francisco’s distinctive excellence to build something truly remarkable, together.”
Early investments supporting Vanderbilt University–San Francisco include:
- Katie, BS’97, and Matt Paige
- Jeff, BA’77, MS’79, and Marieke Rothschild
- Leah and Ben Spero
These pledged gifts include significant commitments from several anonymous donors and signal the breadth of support gathering behind Vanderbilt in the Bay Area, including gifts from leaders in the arts and creative community. Vanderbilt anticipates announcing several of these commitments in greater detail in the months ahead.
ABOUT THE CAMPUS
Vanderbilt San Francisco will focus on engineering, entrepreneurship and design to educate artists, makers and designers whose work bridges creative expression and technological innovation.
The campus expects to serve about 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students, along with full-time faculty, and will build on the nearly 120-year legacy of the previous California College of the Arts.
As part of its commitment to honoring CCA, Vanderbilt will establish the California College of the Arts Institute, preserving and advancing CCA’s traditions of experimentation, collaboration and remaining deeply connected to the cultural life of San Francisco and the broader Bay Area.
GROWTH INITIATIVES
Vanderbilt San Francisco represents the next step in Vanderbilt’s strategic growth initiatives. The university’s recent expansions include a New York City campus, which officially opens to a cohort of undergraduates in Fall 2026, a graduate campus planned in West Palm Beach, along with the Institute for Quantum Innovation in Chattanooga.
- Follow the latest on Vanderbilt’s San Francisco campus.
- Learn about all of Vanderbilt’s growth initiatives.
- Read the full press release.
