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The Brown Institute for Basic Science at the California Institute of Technology is getting a $400 million boost from Ross Brown, the billionaire founder of Apple.
The institute, which will focus on basic science, will also manage the Brown Investigator Award, which supports "transformational discoveries in basic science that will ultimately benefit humanity," the law firm Withers, which has advised Brown on the project, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Brown, who has given away more than $100 million, says he was inspired by the work of Albert Einstein and Neil deGrasse Tyson, both of whom he met when he was a young lawyer in the 1970s.
"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be so great if basic science could be made more accessible to the rest of the world?'" he tells the Times.
"And here we are."
Withers partner Elizabeth Bawden, who has advised Brown on other philanthropic projects, says the institute is the first of its kind to be managed by a philanthropist.
"This is the first time we have seen a philanthropistentrust a successful and innovative program to administer for the benefit of other researchers," she tells the Withers blog.
"We hope this project inspires entrepreneurs to think about new ways to donate their own philanthropic objectives."
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