Stony Brook University gets $500 million from hedge fund founder who taught math there

NEW YORK — Stony Brook University, a part of the public State University of New York system, will receive $500 million from a philanthropic foundation started by a hedge fund billionaire who once taught math there, the foundation announced Thursday. The gift from the Simons Foundation will be delivered to Stony Brook over seven years and will go directly to the university’s endowment rather than being earmarked for a specific project, foundation officials said. Simons, who joined Stony Brook as chair of the math department in 1968, said the Long Island-based university “gave me a chance to lead, and so it has been deeply rewarding to watch the university grow and flourish even more.” Simons, who is now 85, went from academia to Wall Street, where he founded Renaissance Technologies, one of the world’s largest hedge funds. The foundation has made several previous donations to Stony Brook, where Marilyn Simons received her bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics.