CLEMSON — A software mogul’s $2.5 million donation to Clemson University will translate into two new computer-oriented endowed chairs.

The benefaction is courtesy of the Tycho Howle family. Howle is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of nuBridges, LLC, which specializes in data protection and digital information exchange.

“As computer technology continues to advance, I like the notion of smart people continuing to apply those advances to take on difficult and challenging societal needs,” Howle said. “My career and accomplishments are all due to the great education I received. My life would have been entirely different had I not had the benefit of my Clemson education.”

The Howle gift will endow the hf (Howle family) Flagship Director of the School of Computing. On July 1, Clemson named Larry F. Hodges to the post.

Said Hodges: “Our goal is to become a national leader in the definition and advancement of emerging academic fields in computing through the development of successful divisions that integrate computation with the arts, humanities, sciences and engineering. Clemson realizes the importance of computing to education and research and is already ahead of many universities in developing an infrastructure that supports computing across all disciplines.”

A second position, the hf Flagship Chair in Human Centered Computing, has yet to be filled. Both Howle gigs are within the department of electrical and computer engineering.

The latter chair will lead Clemson University’s efforts to make computational technologies more usable and inform on how computational technologies affect society.

Clemson Dean of Engineering and Science Esin Gulari expects the human-centered computing post to be filled within two years. But no firm date has been set. According to Gulari, more endowed chairs bolsters Clemson’s reputation as well as its academics.

“We’ll be able to compete with the top 20 universities — Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech. That type of institution,” Gulari said. “An endowment is forever generating funds, essentially expendable balances.”

Gulari said the Howle endowment should generate about $50,000 annually for each hf chair.

Endowed chairs help Clemson fulfill two critical roles. They allow the university to recruit world-class faculty, which then pulls top-shelf students. The program also boosts research funding, while feeding Clemson’s undergraduate research initiative.

Endowment funds are placed into an investments account. Gulari said about 5 percent in interest will be available to the Howle endowed chairs each year. The funds are available irrespective of what happens in the university budget or state funding.

A reliable stream of cash is a attractive component in hiring new faculty members. Interest generated can be used to offset salaries, supplement graduate students, buy equipment, fund research, pay for travel expenses to conferences and assist with cost sharing.

“These are unrestricted funds that don’t have as many limitations as federal grants or industrial contracts,” Gulari said. “(Endowments) provide stability and opportunities to pursue their ideas.”

With technology engrained in their social (MySpace, facebook) and entertainment (iPods, Xbox) pursuits, students’ interest in computing has surged, Gulari said. Clemson’s college of engineering and science includes 13 departments, about 3,500 undergrads and more than 1,000 graduate students.

In the future, Gulari plans on expanding Clemson’s digital production (DPA) arts focus, in which students are groomed to design video games and special effects for films.