Hedge-Fund Leader Gives $120 Million to Create New Data-Science School at U. of Virginia

Hedge-fund owner Jaffray Woodriff, and his wife, Merrill, today donated $120 million to the University of Virginia to launch a new school of data science. The donors are giving the money through their family fund, the Quantitative Foundation.

Jaffray Woodriff graduated from the university’s McIntire School of Commerce in 1991 and went on to co-found Quantitative Investment Management, a $3 billion hedge fund in Charlottesville, in 2003. Merrill Woodriff is a former teacher who owns and is co-director of Bend Yoga, in Charlottesville. She earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from UVa’s College of Arts & Sciences and its Curry School of Education in 1998.

While this is the couple’s biggest donation so far, it is not their’ first substantial gift to the university. They have given more than $30 million to UVa since they graduated, including $10 million to establish a data-science institute, which will be integrated into the new school.

The Woodriff donation comes as a growing number of donors are focusing on ways to expand the use of artificial technologies.

It is the second recent gift that focuses on ethical uses of artificial intelligence as part of its goal. In October, Stephen Schwarzman, the New York financier, gave MIT $350 million with the aim of focusing in part on the ethical use of the science.

And at UVa, the Woodriff money will specifically go toward “responsible data science” and efforts to make all aspects of it a “resource for public good,” according to the university’s news release.

Variety of Causes

The couple started their foundation in 2008 with $50 million, and today its assets stand at nearly $133.1 million, according its 2016 tax filing, the most recent year available.

The Woodriffs have backed a variety of nonprofits in Charlottesville and elsewhere through their foundation, with an emphasis on education programs.

They have also supported health and nutrition efforts and medical research. Jaffray Woodriff is a squash enthusiast, and the couple have given a few grants to national organizations that supports the sport.