MIT PRAISES ANONYMOUS $140M GIFT
School prez: Donation ‘vital fuel’
An anonymous MIT alumnus, who praised the financial aid the university gave him years ago, has pledged $140 million to the Cambridge college — a gift the donor said comes with no strings attached.
“I am blessed to be able to give back to the Institute so other students can experience what I did, and so that the Institute can continue to excel in ground breaking achievements,” the donor said in a statement. “I trust its leadership to take bold steps to make the world a better place.”
The secret donor added he hopes the generous gift “inspires others to give back to MIT and to pay it forward to the society that we all share.”
The donation is not the largest in the school’s history, but MIT said it is remarkable because the money does not include any instructions or wishes for how it is spent.
In 2000, Patrick McGovern Jr., founder of tech-industry publishing giant IDG, gave MIT $350 million, its largest ever donation. That money founded the McGovern Institute for Brain Research.
MIT President L. Rafael Reif praised the gift saying, “For the faculty and students of MIT, unrestricted resources are the vital fuel that helps big ideas take off. This remarkable gift will magnify our strength in education, research, and innovation and help foster transformative discoveries, inventions, and solutions to conquer new frontiers and build a better world.”
MIT said money that can be flexibly spent is often used to fund risky, but potentially worldchanging research. Because it comes without any guidance, MIT can use the money to back research and work that outside groups would balk at funding.
An MIT spokeswoman said the school does know who the anonymous donor is, and said the alum did not say why they wish to remain anonymous. In their statement, the donor said they wanted to give back in part because of the financial aid they received when they went to MIT.
“No one has ever made it through life without someone else’s help,” the donor said. “As a past recipient of MIT’s generous financial aid, I benefited tremendously from the opportunity to pursue my MIT education and am extremely appreciative of all the ways that MIT has shaped me.”
It is likely, at least, part of the donation will go toward financial aid, MIT said. The university said unrestricted funds were responsible for 20 percent of MIT’s scholarships and financial aid for undergraduates. MIT says it is one of five higher education institutions in the country that meet the demonstrated financial needs of every undergraduate.