Joseph J. Jacobs

Jacobs was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1916. His father was a Lebanese immigrant who sold straight razors. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School. Jacobs worked various jobs to pay for his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, and taught college while he earned his master's degree and doctorate in that field, in 1939 and 1942, respectively.

As a young engineer, he worked for Merck & Co. to develop mass production of both DDT and penicillin. In 1943, he was accidentally doused with hundreds of pounds of hot DDT when a hopper valve opened. Although coated with, by his own estimate, an inch of DDT from head to foot; according to the book Eco-Freaks, Jacobs suffered no ill consequences from his exposure.

Jacobs Engineering

After World War II, he moved to California, intending to go into business himself. In 1947, he opened a one-man consulting engineering business in Pasadena, California, where he and his wife made their home. This grew into Jacobs Engineering Group, a large engineering and construction company.

Later years

Jacobs stepped down as chief executive of Jacobs Engineering Group in 1992, but remained as chairman of the board. He then founded two venture capital firms and devoted time to charity work. He had previously created the Jacobs Family Foundation, which donated about $32 million to non-profit organizations. In 1998, he set up the Jacobs Center for Neighbourhood Innovation in San Diego, California. He died at the age of 88 on October 23, 2004, in Pasadena.