Stony Brook University Gets Historic $25 Million Gift

The 2019 Stony Brook Gala raised a record-breaking $28.2 million, which includes a $25 million gift from Marilyn Simons, to establish a new Center for Applied Economics and Public Policy at the University.

The 2019 Stony Brook Gala raised a record-breaking $28.2 million, which includes $25 million gift from philanthropist Marilyn Simons.
Photo Credit: *Google Maps*

Donna Christopher

04/27/2019 3:00 p.m.

An additional $3.2 million plus was raised for student scholarships.

More than 800 guests gathered April 10 at Pier Sixty Chelsea Piers in Manhattan to honor alumna and Simons Foundation President Marilyn Hawrys Simons (1974) Ph.D. (1984) at the 20th Stars of Stony Brook Gala.

The annual event honored Simons for her leadership as president of one of the nation’s premier philanthropic institutions devoted to driving progress in basic science, as well as her contributions to improving educational opportunities for the underserved at the university and beyond, said the university's announcement.I

In 1994, with husband Jim Simons, Marilyn Simons co-founded — and became president of — the Simons Foundation.

In the years since its founding, the Simons Foundation rapidly became one of the nation’s leading private funders of basic research, its president a vocal advocate for increased philanthropic involvement in high-risk, high-reward scientific research.

Stony Brook University awarded Marilyn Simons an honorary doctorate of letters degree in 2008.

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