Jack J. Zbar, a 1956 Tech graduate, leader in the chemical manufacturing and textile industries, and visionary supporter of Georgia Tech, has made a commitment that will have an impact on the Institute for years to come. 

He and his wife, Leda, have directed a $9 million testamentary commitment to areas of Tech that are close to their hearts, including faculty support and student support directed to two schools and unrestricted support for the Institute. 

The last of these, the Leda L. and Jack J. Zbar Endowment Fund, will one day provide significant resources for Georgia Tech — resources that will be deployed strategically by the president to meet pressing, immediate needs and to respond to opportunities as they arise in any given academic year. In appreciation for the Zbars’ generosity, the Institute will name the Sixth Street Apartments-East the Jack J. and Leda L. Zbar Residence Hall.

“Georgia Tech gave me the foundation to be successful in everything that I have done since I left,” said Zbar. “It gave me the knowledge, the confidence, and the ability.”

The Zbars have also been strategic in committing future support to the Schools of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) and Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). Through a series of charitable remainder unitrusts, one day their philanthropy will establish the Leda L. and Jack J. Zbar Chairs in ChBE and MSE, the Leda L. and Jack J. Zbar Scholarship Endowment Funds for students with demonstrated financial need in both schools, and will also fund faculty enrichment endowments in each. 

“My profession is, and has been, a chemical engineer,” said Zbar, a native of Tampa, Florida. “But I also got my start producing, developing, and utilizing chemicals for a textile manufacturer for a few years, so both of these schools are important to me.”

Indeed, that experience led him to found his own company, Arrow Engineering, in 1970 in Dalton, Georgia. For decades, the company has specialized in providing technologically advanced chemicals for the textile industry, servicing the carpet industry as well as the cotton, woolen, polyester, and denim markets. It has been a leader in carpet protection technology, using recycled materials in a variety of patented products. In 2004, Zbar sold Arrow Engineering after almost  35 years of success at the helm.

Naresh Thadhani, professor and school chair in MSE, called the Zbar commitments transformative.

“They will help make us the model program that will define the future of our discipline,” he said. “They will allow us to recruit and retain those individuals who are poised to make the next scientific breakthroughs that will advance technologies and enable future generations of students to reach new heights with a Georgia Tech education.”

Zbar echoed those sentiments.

“To continue being the school that it is, Georgia Tech needs the best people — the best faculty and the best students — that money can buy. That really is the bottom line.” 

He is happy to be in a position to give back and credits his wife for encouraging him. 

“Leda has been so instrumental in developing my philanthropic thinking. Her parents were of modest means, but they always found a way to give to others. She taught me how important that is.”

For many years Jack and Leda Zbar have provided vital scholarship support in the former School of Polymer, Textile, and Fiber Engineering (now part of MSE), and provided unrestricted current operations support through Roll Call for 28 consecutive years. In addition, Zbar served on the Textile and Fiber Engineering Advisory Board and his 40th Reunion Committee. In 1996 he was named a College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus, and in 2003 he was elected to the Engineering Hall of Fame.