The University at Buffalo received a $10 million gift from Jacobs, his wife Margaret, and other family members on June 11, 2008 to establish the Jacobs Institute. The Jacobs Institute supports research and clinical collaboration on the causes, treatment, and prevention of heart and vascular diseases. This gift was also made in honor of his late brother, Lawrence. The Jacobs' gift was at the time the largest single gift ever made to the University at Buffalo. The donation also made the Jacobs family the university's most generous donor, with gifts totaling $18.4 million. Jacobs has also served the University at Buffalo as chairman, trustee, and director of its foundation, chairman of the President's Board of Visitors, advisor to the School of Management, and as chairman of the University at Buffalo Council.