NEWS BRIEFS
Billionaire to donate $47 million to Broad Institute
Billionaire Carlos Slim Helú promised to donate $74 million to the Broad Institute Monday, according to the Boston Globe. His donation will fund genetic research based on the DNA of Hispanics and other non-Europeans, the Globe reported. “I try to support this kind of project — that is for the interest of everyone in the world, but with some focus in Mexico and Latin America,” Slim told the Globe.
The $74 million-dollar donation funds the second phase of the Slim Initiative for Genomic Medicine for the Americas (SIGMA), an initiative that launched in 2010 when Slim donated $65 million to the Broad institute, according to Slim’s website, carlosslim.com.
Hungarian president visits Media Lab
President János Áder visited the Media Lab for 90 minutes on Friday, according to MIT News, and discussed with MIT president L. Rafael Reif his desires to incite innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit in Hungary so that Hungarian students who study abroad are more likely to return to their home-country.
Áder visited four research groups during his visit to the Media Lab: Tangible Media, Changing Places, Personal Robots, and Lifelong Kindergarten, according to MIT News.
—William Navarre