Paul McEnroe with KITP Postdocs (left to right: Urban Seifert, Logan Prust, Fridtjof Brauns) celebrating the Paul V. McEnroe Hall of Flags.
Earlier this year, longtime Friend of KITP and UCSB Foundation Trustee, Tina McEnroe, made a generous planned gift commitment to the institute in honor of her husband and esteemed engineer, Paul McEnroe. Tina’s gift will support the KITP Postdoctoral Scholars Program, which is a unique, highly competitive opportunity for outstanding early career scientists to participate in KITP’s diverse research programs and broaden their understanding of physics. KITP invites applications from the international physics community every year and, on average, receives more than 600 applicants for only four to six positions. Mentored by local faculty, KITP Postdoctoral Scholars are very productive — averaging three to four papers and five talks per year. The breadth and depth of exposure to all of physics and the global scientific community, combined with the freedom and stimulating, collaborative atmosphere at KITP that encourages risk taking and the formation of new ideas, affords a truly unique opportunity for our postdoctoral scholars.
In recognition of Tina’s investment in KITP’s early-career scientists, the institute was honored to dedicate and name the Paul V. McEnroe Hall of Flags at the Charles T. Munger Physics Residence. A beautiful bronze plaque now greets visitors as they enter the Residence and see the impressive array of flags from around the world, each representing the countries from which all scientists staying at the Residence are coming. The plaque concludes with a heartfelt quote from Tina to her husband, “My respect to a true hero.”
Tina McEnroe signing the documentation to make a gift to KITP Postdoctoral Scholars.
(Left to right: Tina McEnroe, Lars Bildsten, Chris Pizzinat, Paul McEnroe)
Paul has always had a desire to make a difference in the world, and he has done just that. Author of The Barcode, Paul’s entrepreneurial work focused on the development of the Universal Product Code (the barcode) itself, as well as the supporting components and systems, including his patented handheld scanner and the Token Ring (an international standard). Every day, billions of barcode scans make a positive impact on economic growth and daily life worldwide. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates of Science for his contributions to society.
Today, Paul and Tina are the proud owners and operators of Rancho La Purisima, a 1,000-acre working cattle ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley. Tina and Paul founded The McEnroe Reading and Language Arts Clinic at UC Santa Barbara in 2011 and have been generous friends and supporters of KITP for many years. Tina’s inspiring investment will have a lasting impact on the future of KITP and, more broadly, on the future of science across the world.
by Kristi Newton, KITP Senior Director of Development