Campaign for a Better World

Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed writes that MIT has received an unrestricted gift of $140 million from an anonymous alumnus. 

Reporting for NECN, Sarah Betancourt highlights how MIT has received a $140 million donation in unrestricted funds from an anonymous alumnus. Betancourt notes that this type of “flexible funding provides resources such as laboratories, staff support, and equipment to foster the work of MIT's faculty and students. Unrestricted financial support also goes to financial aid for students.”

An anonymous alumnus has donated $140 million in unrestricted funds to MIT, according to the Associated Press. As an unrestricted donation, the gift, “be used in any way to support MIT's research and education mission.”

MIT has received an unrestricted $140 million gift from an anonymous alumnus, reports Melissa Korn for The Wall Street Journal. “An unrestricted gift of that size is rare in higher education, as donors often want a say in how their dollars are spent. Unrestricted donations can be used for things like facilities upkeep, as well as to pursue early-state scientific research.”

President L. Rafael Reif speaks with Washington Post reporter Joel Achenbach about the potential impact of proposed budget cuts to federally-funded scientific research. Achenbach writes that Reif notes, “America’s leadership in science is at stake.”

President Reif spoke with Abraham González of El Financiero about the rapid advance of technology. “Machine learning will not replace us, on the contrary, it will help us. Just as computers help us get the job done today and just as cars help us get from one place to another,” explains Reif.   

President L. Rafael Reif spoke with Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Netburn about MIT’s commitment to fundamental scientific research. Reif explained that at MIT researchers are working to “identify big problems and have people working on those. To me, the health of the planet and human health are the two critical ones that drive everything.”

Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes that the McGovern Institute has established a new center focused on autism research, thanks to a gift from Lisa Yang and Hock Tan ’75 SM ’75. Graham explains that the center will “focus on trying to make significant jumps through new technologies such as gene editing with CRISPR/Cas9.”

MIT is launching a center for autism research at the McGovern Institute with $20 million in funding from MIT alumnus Hock Tan and Lisa Yang, writes Barb Darrow for Fortune. Darrow writes that Yang told Fortune she was "greatly impressed by both the collegiality and focus of the institute's researchers.”

Speaking with Ellie Bothwell of Times Higher Education, President L. Rafael Reif emphasizes MIT’s “commitment to tackling big, important problems for humanity – climate change, clean energy, cybersecurity, human health – with colleagues of every identity and background.”

On Reuters TV, President L. Rafael Reif emphasizes the importance of fundamental scientific research. On the need for federal support for discovery science, he explains that at “places like MIT, we want to make the world better, and to make the world better you have to try to answer the most fundamental questions.” 

President L. Rafael Reif speaks with Dominic O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Today program about innovation, climate change and the importance of scientific research. On how MIT researchers bring innovations to the marketplace, Reif explains what is needed is “a desire to impact society in a positive way.”