First Gentleman Bruce Jacobson
Bruce Jacobson became William & Mary's first "First Gentleman" when his wife, Katherine Rowe, was sworn-in as the university's 28th president in July 2018.
Mr. Jacobson is an independent consultant working in the broadcasting/cable and IT spaces. He began his career as a chip designer working for Raytheon after completing a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He attended grad school at MIT, in a program that trained engineers with a heavy dose of public policy. Mr. Jacobson earned an M.S in Technology & Policy, and in parallel, he earned his M.S in Management from the Sloan School. His research focus was the emerging HDTV standard. After a decade and a half at SNET and Comcast building large video and data distribution systems, Jacobson got the entrepreneurial bug and started working for a small software company, Cauldron Solutions. It grew and was eventually sold to a larger software company, Anystream. Jacobson moved to QVC, where he ran the broadcast engineering department. He now has a consulting practice.
Mr. Jacobson serves on the Board of Directors of WHRO Public Media in Norfolk, VA, and is a lifetime member of the NAACP, part of the Yorktown, James City, Williamsburg branch. At William & Mary, among his many volunteer duties as First Gentleman, he serves on the university's Hillel Board and coaches the men's Ultimate team. When called on, he is delighted to step in as a color commentator at W&M women's basketball games.
A life-long athlete, Mr. Jacobson plays tennis, squash, and golf regularly. He holds multiple national championships and is a world championship silver medalist in the sport of Ultimate. He and Rowe co-founded the nonprofit Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance. Jacobson shares his love of sports with her and with their two adult children, Daniel and Beah.
In a 2019 interview, Bruce Jacobson described his great enjoyment and sense of honor to be pioneering the role of First Gentleman at William & Mary. From riding in the Homecoming Parade, games of Spike Ball in the Wren yard, to Dancing with the Williamsburg Stars, Jacobson welcomes his opportunities to serve as host to the campus – and his time getting to know students, faculty and staff, neighbors in Williamsburg, and alumni around the world.
