Stony Brook University gets $500 million from hedge fund founder who taught math there

By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Stony Brook University in New York will receive $500 million from a philanthropic foundation started by a hedge fund billionaire who once taught math there. The gift was announced Thursday by the Simons Foundation. It will be delivered to Stony Brook over seven years and will go directly to the university’s endowment rather than being earmarked for a specific project. Foundation co-founder Jim Simons called Stony Brook “a wonderful institution in every respect.” Simons joined Stony Brook as chair of the math department in 1968. He later founded Renaissance Technologies, one of the world’s largest hedge funds.