Google engineer, Michigan State graduate donates $2 million for computer ...

LANSING -- Alumni are always asked to give back to their universities and invest in the next generation of students, and one Michigan State University graduate is making sure future computer science students get a top-flight education.

Doug Zongker, a 1996 graduate of MSU's computer science program and a software engineer with Google, is giving $2 million to the university to create the school's first endowed chair of computer science.

'It seems like they're a good program with the potential to become a even better with more resources,' Zongker said. 'I think they get a lot of value per dollar from this donation.'

The donation is part of an estate plan, meaning the university won't immediately see the money.

'I's a bequest, so they're not actually getting anything until I die, which I hope isn't for a good 40 or 50 years,' Zongker said.

In the meantime, Zongker said, he hopes his gift draws more attention to the work the university's computer science program is doing.

'Gifts like this are intended to attract the best talent to the MSU faculty,' Zongker said. 'I think really good professors who expect a lot from their students tends to make students rise to meet the challenge.'

The gift isn't Zongker's first contribution to the university. In 2011, he established a fund to purchase mobile devices for students to work with in developing mobile applications, a program which aligns with Zongker's work developing the Android operating system for phones and tablets.

Zongker said the computer science department is doing well in preparing graduates to move into the tech industry after graduation, and has changed since his graduation.

'I had a lot of opportunities to do things in the computer science department that were outside the classroom: programming contests, research projects, etc., and those were really valuable in giving me a better idea of how the industry worked. You're not just given little self-contained problems that are designed to be solvable,' Zongker said. 'I think their capstone software engineering course tries to give that experience to all their graduates now. That didn't exist when I was there.'

Leo Kempel, acting dean of MSU's engineering college, said the gift is a chance to draw in top talent to continue improving the department and the university.

'Computer science, computing in general, is pervasive throughout society and it's really changing the way we make products here in Michigan and in how we interact and understand the world around us,' Kempel said. 'Innovation is the way that Michigan is going to strengthen the economy over the next 10-20 years, and bringing in top talent into the university here is a way that we can expand our ability in innovation for Michigan.'

Brian Smith is the statewide education and courts reporter for MLive. Email him at bsmith11@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.