STARTING from scratch shortly after the Second World War, Joseph J. Jacobs built one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies. Today, Jacobs Engineering Group has more than 35,000 employees worldwide, and its annual turnover exceeds £4.5 billion.

The youngest of seven children, Joseph John Jacobs was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1916. His family, which had emigrated from Lebanon, made a fortune during the First World War by selling cut-throat razors. However, their wealth declined rapidly after the invention of the safety razor. Jacobs was obliged to take various jobs to finance his degree in chemical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. He later taught at the university while obtaining a masters and a doctorate.

Having moved to California, he set up Jacobs Engineering in Pasadena in 1947. At that stage, the company began and ended with its founder, who operated as a chemical engineering consultant and as a representative for manufacturers of process equipment.

The business began to expand rapidly during the 1960s, since when it has become a world leader in the design, construction and operation of plants in the oil, pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnology industries.

Jacobs served as the company’s chief executive until 1992, when he stepped down to get more involved in charity work. At the same time, he established two venture capital firms that invest in start-up companies specialising in innovative technologies.

Although no longer active in day-to-day affairs, he would remain chairman of Jacobs Engineering’s board of directors until his death.

In his 1991 autobiography, The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: Family, Culture and Ethics, Jacobs ascribed his success to a combination of good ideas, hard work and ethics learnt from the Lebanese-American community. He always placed particular emphasis on the need to keep to the high ground, once declaring: “I believe that companies develop a character and a personality of their own. I believe also that the standards, the morals, the integrity of the people who influence the company’s growth help to shape that personality. Play it straight, deal with honesty and integrity, and you’ll get your share.”

In his second book, Compassionate Conservative: Assuming Responsibility and Respecting Human Dignity (1995), Jacobs challenged the assumption that liberals have a monopoly on compassion. The term “compassionate conservatism” would be adopted by George W. Bush in his 2000 campaign for the US presidency.

Jacobs never forgot his humble origins, and during the last 16 years of his life he used the Jacobs Family Foundation to channel some $32 million to non-profit organisations. In 1998 he established the Jacobs Centre for Neighbourhood Innovation in San Diego to provide economic aid, technical assistance and training to poor communities.

Jacobs was a founder and vice-chairman of the American Task Force for Lebanon and a member of the board of trustees at both the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, where he funded the Jacobs Science Centre.

He gave more than $30 million to his alma mater and backed a programme for students of Middle Eastern ancestry.

In response, the university named a number of buildings and departments in his honour and awarded him an honorary doctorate.

In 1983 Jacobs received the Hoover Medal from President Reagan. The citation declared that the honour had been bestowed in recognition of his contributions in engineering, education and humanitarian efforts.

He is survived by Violet, his wife of 62 years, and their three daughters.

Joseph J. Jacobs, businessman and philanthropist, was born on June 13, 1916. He died on October 23, 2004, aged 88.