What $500M Simons Foundation gift means for Stony Brook University
Students walk through the Stony Brook University campus in August 2020. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
It’s been a little more than a year since Stony Brook University received $500 million from the Simons Foundation, a pledge school officials said was the nation’s largest-ever unrestricted endowment to a U.S. institution of higher education.
The benefits from that gift remain in the early stages, but officials at the school recently said that the Simons Infinity Investment — given by former math professor and billionaire hedge-fund manager James Simons and his wife, Marilyn, a former student — is making an impact. James Simons died in May at age 86.
The award is structured in such a way that it could eventually end up giving more than $1 billion for the university and medical center. Every endowment gift made to Stony Brook unlocks the same amount from the Simons Infinity Investment. Other donors have been inspired by this match to give more, university officials said. And, the school benefits from a limited-time state program that matches every $2 dollars given with one dollar.
Endowments are often referred to as the “gifts that keep on giving,” allowing donors to support multiple generations of students and faculty. When an endowment gift is received, it is placed in a long-term investment fund, and the investment returns generated from the principal are used for university initiatives. Prior to the gift, Stony Brook's endowment totaled about $370 million.
In a recent interview, Justin Fincher, vice president for advancement and executive director of the Stony Brook Foundation, explained the status of the gift and what the future holds for it.
The $500 million gift is structured over a seven-year period, with the first $200 million acting as a challenge for other donors to match over the first three years, ending in May 2026.
“We believe that the final $300 million back-half of the Simons’ gift . . . will also create a match,” Fincher said. “And during this time over the seven years, we will also raise additional endowment funds. So those other gifts, combined with the Simons’ Infinity Investments, it will add more than a billion dollars to the institution.”
In addition, a limited-time program launched by the state in 2023 matches donor gifts with $1 given for every $2 of qualifying gifts to the endowments of the four State University of New York centers including Stony Brook. That program runs until 2026.
For example, Fincher said, if a donor gives $100,000 that will be matched by $50,000 from the state.
University officials have not released the amount they have received in the first year, but expect to raise an average of $67 million a year in new endowments, and are on track to meet this goal, Fincher said.
In this fiscal year, there have been 53 new endowment accounts created by Stony Brook alumni and friends, surpassing what the university has typically received in a given year.
Some donors said that they have been inspired by matches that amplified their donations.
Frank Fischer and his wife, Michele, are both graduates of Stony Brook and have made somewhat modest donations through the years, but the Simons appeal “definitely was the inspiration for a more material donation for me,” said Frank Fischer, 48, a managing partner and chief analytics officer for Aeolus Capital Management.
Under the matching program, a donation from the couple of more than $166,000 leveraged up to $500,000 with the match, he said. The way it works is that the Fischers' initial donation is then matched by the Simons gift at 100% and the state at 50%. The couple wanted their gift to help fund two scholarships: one for an engineering student and another for a meteorology student.
Fischer's brothers also are alums of Stony Brook, and the family had been considering a gift to the medical center and for cancer research after their mother, Ellen, died of cancer. The family ended up donating more than $131,000, which was then matched by the Simons gift and the state leading to an overall impact of more than $393,100 for Stony Brook.
“There are many great places to support both of these goals, but the Simons match and our personal connection to Stony Brook made it a perfect fit,” Fischer said.
The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, which has been providing seed grants to Stony Brook breast cancer researchers for more than 25 years, established a $5.5 million endowment that will be used in perpetuity to fund breast cancer research at Stony Brook Medicine. In memory of Carol, who died in 2022, the new endowed fund ensures that breast cancer research at Stony Brook will continue for years to come. With the state and Simons match, that gift will have an impact of $16.5 million, according to the university.
The Baldwin fund's director, Anne Line, said the 100% match from the Simons gift was “so generous.”
“When the Simons Foundation came in with that remarkable gift, we just couldn't pass it up,” Line said.
The minimum contribution to qualify for the match is $100,000.
“The reason why we call it this Infinity Investment is just that it keeps reinforcing philanthropic momentum,” Fincher said.
The university has secured five endowed Infinity chair positions, which were inspired by the Simons Infinity Investment and state matches and will be available for generations of Stony Brook presidents to recruit and retain noted faculty and researchers.
As the interest from the multimillions invested continues to grow, that spinoff will be put to use on campus or at Stony Brook’s medical center for immediate needs such as scholarships and programs.
In the case of the Simons Foundation pledge, those funds are unrestricted so that the returns generated from the principal can be used for initiatives at the discretion of the president of the university.
“So if you imagine for a moment that this endowment grows to $750 million unrestricted that will spin off on an annual basis, about $30-plus million that we will use every year to match new philanthropy,” Fincher said. “I would say the biggest headline here is what this Infinity Investment will do for the next 50-plus years. It has to mature and gain that interest. In the future, the president and the president's leadership will decide how they want to use that to inspire other philanthropy.”
Since the first gift from the Simons of $750 in 1983, they have given more than $1 billion to Stony Brook and directly inspired over 2,100 donors to contribute.
A summer program for high school students who have a demonstrated interest in science is underway on campus. Founded in 1984, the Simons Summer Research Program has helped more than 1,000 high school students conduct innovative research alongside faculty mentors.
A $100 million matching gift from the Simons Foundation helped support the recent development of The New York Climate Exchange, where Stony Brook was selected as the lead anchor. They've also given to support math and the sciences across disciplines as well as for research at the Renaissance School of Medicine.
“It's not hyperbole to say that they have touched every corner of this campus,” Fincher said.
In a statement, Simons Foundation president David Spergel said last week that “Marilyn and Jim Simons have always been believers and supporters of Stony Brook as a center of academic excellence and a place that transforms students' lives.”
It’s been a little more than a year since Stony Brook University received $500 million from the Simons Foundation, a pledge school officials said was the nation’s largest-ever unrestricted endowment to a U.S. institution of higher education.
The benefits from that gift remain in the early stages, but officials at the school recently said that the Simons Infinity Investment — given by former math professor and billionaire hedge-fund manager James Simons and his wife, Marilyn, a former student — is making an impact. James Simons died in May at age 86.
The award is structured in such a way that it could eventually end up giving more than $1 billion for the university and medical center. Every endowment gift made to Stony Brook unlocks the same amount from the Simons Infinity Investment. Other donors have been inspired by this match to give more, university officials said. And, the school benefits from a limited-time state program that matches every $2 dollars given with one dollar.
Endowments are often referred to as the “gifts that keep on giving,” allowing donors to support multiple generations of students and faculty. When an endowment gift is received, it is placed in a long-term investment fund, and the investment returns generated from the principal are used for university initiatives. Prior to the gift, Stony Brook's endowment totaled about $370 million.
In a recent interview, Justin Fincher, vice president for advancement and executive director of the Stony Brook Foundation, explained the status of the gift and what the future holds for it.
How is the gift structured and how does it work?
The $500 million gift is structured over a seven-year period, with the first $200 million acting as a challenge for other donors to match over the first three years, ending in May 2026.
“We believe that the final $300 million back-half of the Simons’ gift . . . will also create a match,” Fincher said. “And during this time over the seven years, we will also raise additional endowment funds. So those other gifts, combined with the Simons’ Infinity Investments, it will add more than a billion dollars to the institution.”
In addition, a limited-time program launched by the state in 2023 matches donor gifts with $1 given for every $2 of qualifying gifts to the endowments of the four State University of New York centers including Stony Brook. That program runs until 2026.
For example, Fincher said, if a donor gives $100,000 that will be matched by $50,000 from the state.
How is the donor campaign going?
University officials have not released the amount they have received in the first year, but expect to raise an average of $67 million a year in new endowments, and are on track to meet this goal, Fincher said.
In this fiscal year, there have been 53 new endowment accounts created by Stony Brook alumni and friends, surpassing what the university has typically received in a given year.
Some donors said that they have been inspired by matches that amplified their donations.
Frank Fischer and his wife, Michele, are both graduates of Stony Brook and have made somewhat modest donations through the years, but the Simons appeal “definitely was the inspiration for a more material donation for me,” said Frank Fischer, 48, a managing partner and chief analytics officer for Aeolus Capital Management.
Under the matching program, a donation from the couple of more than $166,000 leveraged up to $500,000 with the match, he said. The way it works is that the Fischers' initial donation is then matched by the Simons gift at 100% and the state at 50%. The couple wanted their gift to help fund two scholarships: one for an engineering student and another for a meteorology student.
Fischer's brothers also are alums of Stony Brook, and the family had been considering a gift to the medical center and for cancer research after their mother, Ellen, died of cancer. The family ended up donating more than $131,000, which was then matched by the Simons gift and the state leading to an overall impact of more than $393,100 for Stony Brook.
“There are many great places to support both of these goals, but the Simons match and our personal connection to Stony Brook made it a perfect fit,” Fischer said.
The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, which has been providing seed grants to Stony Brook breast cancer researchers for more than 25 years, established a $5.5 million endowment that will be used in perpetuity to fund breast cancer research at Stony Brook Medicine. In memory of Carol, who died in 2022, the new endowed fund ensures that breast cancer research at Stony Brook will continue for years to come. With the state and Simons match, that gift will have an impact of $16.5 million, according to the university.
The Baldwin fund's director, Anne Line, said the 100% match from the Simons gift was “so generous.”
“When the Simons Foundation came in with that remarkable gift, we just couldn't pass it up,” Line said.
The minimum contribution to qualify for the match is $100,000.
“The reason why we call it this Infinity Investment is just that it keeps reinforcing philanthropic momentum,” Fincher said.
What will be done with the funds?
The university has secured five endowed Infinity chair positions, which were inspired by the Simons Infinity Investment and state matches and will be available for generations of Stony Brook presidents to recruit and retain noted faculty and researchers.
As the interest from the multimillions invested continues to grow, that spinoff will be put to use on campus or at Stony Brook’s medical center for immediate needs such as scholarships and programs.
In the case of the Simons Foundation pledge, those funds are unrestricted so that the returns generated from the principal can be used for initiatives at the discretion of the president of the university.
“So if you imagine for a moment that this endowment grows to $750 million unrestricted that will spin off on an annual basis, about $30-plus million that we will use every year to match new philanthropy,” Fincher said. “I would say the biggest headline here is what this Infinity Investment will do for the next 50-plus years. It has to mature and gain that interest. In the future, the president and the president's leadership will decide how they want to use that to inspire other philanthropy.”
When did the Simons first start giving and what has their generosity meant?
Since the first gift from the Simons of $750 in 1983, they have given more than $1 billion to Stony Brook and directly inspired over 2,100 donors to contribute.
A summer program for high school students who have a demonstrated interest in science is underway on campus. Founded in 1984, the Simons Summer Research Program has helped more than 1,000 high school students conduct innovative research alongside faculty mentors.
A $100 million matching gift from the Simons Foundation helped support the recent development of The New York Climate Exchange, where Stony Brook was selected as the lead anchor. They've also given to support math and the sciences across disciplines as well as for research at the Renaissance School of Medicine.
“It's not hyperbole to say that they have touched every corner of this campus,” Fincher said.
In a statement, Simons Foundation president David Spergel said last week that “Marilyn and Jim Simons have always been believers and supporters of Stony Brook as a center of academic excellence and a place that transforms students' lives.”
What to Know
- It’s been a little more than a year since Stony Brook University received $500 million from the Simons Foundation.
- The benefits from that gift remain in the early stages, but school officials said the gift from billionaire hedge-fund manager James Simons and his wife, Marilyn, is already making an impact.
- The $500 million gift is structured over a seven-year period, with the first $200 million acting as a challenge for other donors to match over the first three years, ending in May 2026.
Joie Tyrrell is a Long Island native and covers education for Newsday, where she has worked since 1998.
