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UMass Amherst
Blake Nissen for The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Marshall University in West Virginia has received a $50 million gift from an unusual donor: President Brad Smith and his wife, Alys Smith.
The gift, the largest in the university’s history—and the largest by a sitting president to their own institution, according to the announcement—will support the Marshall for All program, established in 2023 to help students graduate debt-free by allowing them to combine scholarships, grants, work opportunities and family contributions to pay for a bachelor’s degree. The goal is for all students to graduate debt-free by Marshall’s bicentennial in 2037.
Smith, who grew up near Marshall and graduated from its Lewis College of Business, went on to work in Silicon Valley, where he spent 11 years as CEO of Intuit.
“Our ‘why’ is simple: to level the playing field in West Virginia and Appalachia,” the Smiths said in a statement. “We hope this gift ensures that every student with the dream of an advanced degree has the opportunity and support to achieve it—while also showing what’s possible for the future of higher education in our region and beyond.”
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst has also received a $50 million commitment for its engineering school from alum Dan Riccio, who recently retired from Apple Inc.
The gift, the largest in the university’s history, will be used primarily to fund scholarships for undergraduate engineering students, graduate engineering fellowships, a biomedical engineering chair and faculty recruitment and retention efforts.
At a ceremony later this fall, the school will be renamed the Daniel J. Riccio Jr. College of Engineering.
“As a proud alum, I’ve seen UMass Amherst, including its College of Engineering, become a world-class institution over the past 20 years,” Riccio said in a statement. “While UMass has come a long way, I believe it has untapped potential and with the right level of investment and support, its best days are yet to come. This said, I’m excited to make this gift and partner with UMass to take the College of Engineering to the next level and build on its mission of revolutionizing engineering and making the world a better place.”
