UVA receives $10M gift for Data Science Institute
Investor Jaffray Woodriff pledged $10 million toward the creation of an endowment for the University’s newly formed Data Science Institute, the University announced Thursday.
The institute was created last year to serve as a hub of research and instruction in data science, said engineering professor Don Brown, founding director of the institute.
Woodriff, who graduated from the Commerce School in 1991, will gift the endowment in stages during the next six years through the Quantitative Foundation, Woodriff’s private foundation.
Woodriff said he wants to see the University emerge as a leader in the field of big data.
“Data has always been very important,” Woodriff said in an email. “However, the tools to handle the burgeoning size of data in the world are evolving very quickly and I would like to see UVA leading breakthroughs in data science in the coming years.”
The donation, combined with $7 million of the University’s own funds, will provide a key foundation for the organization to expand its national and global presence, Brown said.