Tech Shout!

It has been reported that co-founder of Internet media company, Yahoo Inc., Jerry Yang plans on donating $75 million to Stanford University, his alma mater. This bit of news was revealed by Stanford University itself, which plans to use most of this money on a new environmental studies center.

Both Jerry Yang and his wife, Akiko Yamazaki received their undergraduate degrees from Stanford University in 1990. Besides, Yang also received a master’s degree from the university, and happened to actually be working toward a doctorate in 1994. Coincidentally, at the same time he then co-founded Yahoo with fellow Stanford student Dave Filo. Later in 2005, Jerry Yang was elected to the Stanford University Board of Trustees.

Out of the $75 million that is to be donated by Yang, $5 million will be used for construction of a Learning and Knowledge Center at Stanford’s School of Medicine. $50 million has already been assigned as the cost of the Environment and Energy Building project, and the remaining $20 million will be retained for projects that will be determined at a later date.

According to Jerry Wang, “We keep coming back to Stanford as a place to give money to, because there’s a uniqueness that Stanford offers donors like us. First of all, you can attract world-class talent. Secondly, there’s very long-term thinking beyond what you can commercialize tomorrow, beyond what the politics are day-to-day. Number three; it’s still a place about interaction, where the best lawyers, biologists and engineers are all sitting around drinking coffee together. You can’t replace that with technology or video conferencing or even flying around in airplanes. You have to be down the hall where you have the chance of creating some of the best ideas that will come out in the next century. We fill thrilled, actually, to be a part of that.”

And here is what Stanford University President, John Hennessy said, “Stanford is indeed fortunate to have friends like Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki, who have always been loyal supporters of their alma mater. But, this gift is particularly meaningful for the University, as it seeks to address important issues of environmental sustainability.”