Glenview Video Game Trailblazer Gives DePaul Record Donation

GLENVIEW, IL — The late 1970s and early 1980s are considered the "Golden Age of Arcade Video Games." Among the most popular games during this era was "Defender," a scrolling shooter video game created by Eugene P. Jarvis, a resident of Glenview.

The video game programmer and his wife, Sasha L. Gerritson, who graduated from DePaul University and is a trustee, recently gave the Chicago school's College of Computing and Digital Media the largest landmark gift in the university's history. A DePaul spokesperson told Patch that the donation was more than the previous high of $30 million, made by Richard Driehaus in 2012, but wouldn't disclose the total amount, as it is private.

The college, located on the Loop Campus in downtown Chicago, will be renamed the Eugene P. Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, according to the school.

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During his career, Jarvis, originally from Palo Alto, California, produced pinball machines for Atari and video games for his company, Williams Electronics, which later merged and rebranded itself with Midway Games. Other game credits for Jarvis include "Firepower," Robotron:2084," "Cruis'n," "Smash TV" and "Nex Machina."

Jarvis currently heads Raw Thrills, Inc., a Skokie-based company he co-founded in 2001. According to his Linkedin profile, the company develops hit arcade games of all styles, from hunting games to driving simulators to ticket redemption games.

DePaul said the gift will also create the Jarvis Student Center for Innovation and Collaboration, as well as an endowed scholarship and a research collaboration with the Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness.

“Eugene and Sasha’s legacy gift ensures CDM will continue to empower generations of student leaders and innovators for years to come, helping build a brighter collective future,” said A. Gabriel Esteban, Ph.D., president of DePaul University, in a statement. “On behalf of our students and the entire DePaul family, I thank them for this transformative act of generosity that will have a profound impact on our students, as well as the Chicago community and industries nationwide.”

Jarvis and Gerritson bought their current Glenview home in 2016 for a reported $2.9 million.

“Sasha and I are thrilled to help one of DePaul’s most exciting, vital colleges expand its innovative, collaborative, hands-on programs,” Jarvis said.

According to the university, the gift "continues Jarvis’ and Gerritson’s history of support and immersive leadership at DePaul." In 2008, Jarvis was named the first game designer in residence at CDM, where he provided guidance at the outset of the gaming program and worked side-by-side with student game developers.

“It’s been thrilling to help grow DePaul’s pioneering video game design program for the last 15 years and see it expand and flourish into one of the world’s foremost game design programs,” Jarvis said.