Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive officer of Google, agreed to donate $2 million to the College of Engineering of Virginia Tech, Paul Torgersen, a former president of Virginia Tech, said that he approached Schmidt with the idea last spring.

The contribution will be used to create the "Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Dean’s Chair in Engineering" at Schmidt’s request, Torgersen said.

Schmidt, who did not attend Virginia Tech, had previously funded a professorship in economics at the institution back in 1999.