As dean of the school of engineering from 1996 to 1999, he mentored many of the students who went on to build Internet firms, including Jerry Yang and David Filo of Yahoo.
In a conference room next door Jerry Jr. pored over a geologic map of a ski resort the Falwells plan to build on Candlers Mountain, cell phone pressed to his ear as he debated with a real estate partner whether to use artificial snow for the slopes.