The University of San Diego on Thursday announced it had received a $12 million gift from a nonprofit created by a co-founder of Intel to bolster science, technology, engineering and math education.
The Noyce Foundation, created by the late Intel co-founder Robert Noyce, donated the money to the university’s School of Leadership and Education Services. The gift will fund a program called STEM Next, which hopes to prepare students, especially girls and those from underserved areas, for scientific careers.
For the most part, STEM Next will not be directly supporting community-based education programs with cash. Instead, it will offer teacher training, curriculums and web-based tools to nonprofits and schools. USD said it may give small amounts of money in some cases to start up programs, but it would be on a case-by-case basis and not the primary goal of the program.
The Noyce Foundation, created in 1990, sunsetted operations on Dec. 31. It said its goal was never to worry about preserving its funding in perpetuity.
