Jeff Rothschild, BA’77, MS’79, vice chair of Vanderbilt University’s Board of Trust, and his wife, Marieke, have committed $25 million to launch the Rothschild Fellows Program at Vanderbilt’s San Francisco campus. The program will provide cohort-based immersions that combine rigorous computer science coursework with hands-on industry experience for top students in Vanderbilt’s College of Connected Computing.
“This extraordinary gift from Jeff and Marieke represents a bold commitment to redefine what it means to prepare leaders for the 21st century,” Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said. “By anchoring our San Francisco campus in immersive learning and industry partnership, the Rothschild Fellows will catalyze new pathways for discovery, innovation and impact, and extends Vanderbilt’s distinctive academic model into one of the world’s leading centers of creativity, technology and entrepreneurship.”
The gift underscores the Rothschilds’ ongoing commitment to Vanderbilt’s strategic priorities, including the College of Connected Computing and the San Francisco network campus.
“This gift reflects our family’s deep connection to San Francisco’s entrepreneurial community, our enduring support for Vanderbilt and my passion for computer science,” Jeff Rothschild said. “Marieke and I have been inspired by the groundswell of support for Vanderbilt’s expansion to San Francisco, including the landmark $75 million matching gift from the Huang family. We are thrilled to create a program that will open doors for students and strengthen Vanderbilt’s presence in one of the world’s great centers of innovation.”
“By anchoring our San Francisco campus in immersive learning and industry partnership, the Rothschild Fellows will catalyze new pathways for discovery, innovation and impact, and extends Vanderbilt’s distinctive academic model into one of the world’s leading centers of creativity, technology and entrepreneurship.”
Fueling the momentum of Vanderbilt’s San Francisco campus
The Rothschilds’ investment builds on the momentum of the San Francisco campus, accelerating Vanderbilt’s capacity to connect students and faculty with world-class opportunities and partners. It also affirms the university’s strategy to extend its interdisciplinary model to dynamic hubs where scholarship, industry and culture intersect—integrating Vanderbilt’s strengths in discovery, design and entrepreneurship more deeply into San Francisco’s innovation ecosystem.
“The San Francisco campus creates an extraordinary opportunity for our students to learn at the intersection of discovery, technology and entrepreneurship,” said C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “The Rothschild Fellows Program reflects Vanderbilt’s distinctive approach to education—bringing together rigorous computer science with insights from a range of other disciplines. By pairing interdisciplinary learning with sustained immersion in one of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems, we are preparing students not only to develop new technologies, but to be thoughtful, creative leaders of the future.”
Creating pathways for real-world learning
For Marieke and Jeff Rothschild, the gift reflects a shared belief in the transformative power of experiential learning and in preparing students to lead at the nexus of technology and society.
“We’re excited to open doors for Vanderbilt students, so what they learn in class comes to life through real projects with real stakes,” Marieke Rothschild said. “San Francisco is a rare place where learning, creativity and entrepreneurship meet, and we want students to build the confidence, skills and perspective that come from tackling meaningful problems alongside leading practitioners as they help shape the future.”
About the Rothschild Fellows Program
The Rothschild Fellows Program will be a highly selective, cohort-based immersion that places Vanderbilt’s most promising students from the College of Connected Computing in the Bay Area for rigorous coursework combined with hands-on industry experience. Fellows will gain direct exposure to the region’s leading companies, emerging startups and investor networks, with Vanderbilt actively securing partner companies and building connections with recruiters, venture capitalists and industry leaders.
Each year, Vanderbilt will select a group of enrolled College of Connected Computing undergraduate students as Rothschild Fellows through a competitive application process. Together, these fellows will live, work and study as a cohort at Vanderbilt University–San Francisco, forming a tight-knit learning community in the heart of the city’s innovation ecosystem.
“San Francisco is a rare place where learning, creativity and entrepreneurship meet, and we want students to build the confidence, skills and perspective that come from tackling meaningful problems alongside leading practitioners as they help shape the future.”
Each fellow will be matched with a curated internship at a San Francisco tech firm aligned with their passions and interests or be mentored as they pursue building their own startup. While on site, fellows will continue their Vanderbilt coursework supplemented by in-person sessions taught by industry practitioners and a selection of senior-level courses offered in San Francisco. Housing will be fully covered, and each fellow will receive a cash stipend, enabling them to focus on learning and professional growth.
Companies, startups and investor networks interested in partnering with the program are invited to email ConnectedComputingDean@vanderbilt.edu.
Advancing the College of Connected Computing
Vanderbilt’s first new college on the Nashville campus in 40 years, the College of Connected Computing unites computer science, data science, artificial intelligence and computational thinking to prepare students to innovate across disciplines and address real-world problems. The San Francisco immersion will be a signature pathway for the college’s most ambitious students, combining academic rigor with high-impact, real-world applications.
“The Rothschild Fellows Program will be a competitive advantage for Vanderbilt, placing our most promising computer science students in the heart of the tech ecosystem and giving them the mentorship, networks and practical experience to turn ideas into solutions,” said Matthew Johnson-Roberson, founding dean of the College of Connected Computing. “By combining deep technical training with sustained, real-world immersion, we are creating a model that prepares students for existing roles and empowers them to define the next generation of technologies, companies and careers.”
About Jeff and Marieke Rothschild
Jeff Rothschild was elected to the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust in 2014 and has served as vice chair of the board since 2017. At Vanderbilt he earned a B.A. in psychology and a M.S. in computer science.
Rothschild has had a 40-year career as an entrepreneur, engineer and technology investor. After completing his education at Vanderbilt, he worked briefly at Honeywell and Intel before becoming an entrepreneur. He has co-founded two public companies: the storage software company Veritas Software, which reached nearly $2 billion in yearly revenue in the 1990s, and the online gaming company Mpath Interactive. He joined Facebook as vice president of infrastructure engineering in 2005 and spent 10 years focused on the scalability and performance of the site. Since leaving Facebook in 2015, he has worked as an investor and mentor to entrepreneurs and is on the board of Pure Storage and Stanford Health Care.
“The Rothschild Fellows Program will be a competitive advantage for Vanderbilt, placing our most promising computer science students in the heart of the tech ecosystem and giving them the mentorship, networks and practical experience to turn ideas into solutions.”
Marieke Rothschild is a trustee at Colby College, where she advocates for affordable higher education for all qualified students. She grew up in the Netherlands and graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in French and Spanish and a minor in linguistics.
The Rothschilds’ philanthropic interests include supporting advancements in medical research, food distribution, scholarships for students, open space preservation, and an ophthalmologic hospital and a dairy cooperative in Kenya. The couple has joined the Giving Pledge community, underscoring their commitment to donating most of their wealth.
The Rothschilds’ investment was inspired by and contributed to the tremendous momentum of the university’s historic Dare to Grow campaign. Support for Dare to Grow has fueled some of the university’s most groundbreaking initiatives, including the Institute of National Security, Vandy United, Vanderbilt’s enhanced presences in New York City, San Francisco, Chattanooga and West Palm Beach, and signature programs like Opportunity Vanderbilt and residential colleges.