Entrepreneur’s Foundation Gives $24-Million to MIT to Accommodate More Undergraduates

How much: $24-million

Who gave it: Fariborz Maseeh, through his Massiah Foundation. Mr. Maseeh is founder and managing prinicpal of Picoco, an investment firm in Newport Beach, Calif. He also founded IntelliSense, a microelectro-mechanical design and development company.

Who got it: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The donor’s connection to the organization: Mr. Maseeh earned a doctor of science degree in civil engineering from MIT in 1990.

Purpose: To expand MIT’s undergraduate student body to 4,500 students, an increase of about 250 students. The money will allow the institution to renovate a dormitory that will accommodate the extra students.

How the gift came about: Mr. Maseeh, who focuses his giving on education and health care, gave to MIT because he is familiar with the institution as an alumnus.

The donor’s philosophy of giving: “We’re looking for causes that will have a broad public benefit from our activities. We’re looking for transformational activities—that our gift actually does something that could not be accomplished. We are also looking for good management, because once we give the gift, it’s really on the shoulder of the organizations to carry out the gift itself.”

The goal of the gift: “Adding 250 more undergrads graduating from MIT over the next 10 years, the economic benefit to our nation is going to be in billions.”