Have you ever wondered where the name Elmore comes from in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering? The school was renamed in 2021 in honor of the family of Purdue alumnus William B. Elmore after he generously gifted $25 million to Purdue’s ECE program. Elmore earned his BSEE in 1975 and MSEE in 1976 from Purdue.

Elmore co-founded venture capital firm Foundation Capital in 1995 in Palo Alto, CA. Foundation Capital invests in enterprise, financial, and consumer tech companies and as of 2023 has over $6 billion in assets under management. Some of their featured investments include Netflix, Sunrun, and LendingClub. Through his gift to Purdue, the funds are being used to initiate new areas of research, education, and recruitment. 

Elmore credits his Purdue engineering education for preparing him to navigate the tech world, saying, “Without the technical background and the thought process that goes along with that training, I wouldn’t be able to interact with technical people every day in my current career.” He remains engaged with Purdue, supporting its mission to expand engineering research and strengthen ties with Silicon Valley.