Historic Investment by Ronald and Maxine Linde Fuels Current and Future Caltech Priorities

PASADENA, Calif., March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In one of the largest acts of philanthropy in Caltech's history, Ron and Maxine Linde have pledged at least $50 million to the Institute.

Their gift, structured to provide Caltech with flexibility to address emerging priorities, creates an endowment without a specific permanent designation. In this way, the Lindes' newest contribution, like many of the couple's previous gifts to Caltech, is earmarked to advance promising initiatives in their early stages. Once those initiatives are well established and positioned to garner additional external support, the endowed funds can be redirected to "the next important project Caltech should be undertaking," as Ron Linde describes it.

"The Lindes' exceptional generosity will have a far-reaching and enduring impact on Caltech," says President Thomas F. Rosenbaum, holder of Caltech's Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and professor of physics. "They understand deeply the Institute's fundamental values and appetite for bold research endeavors. The Lindes' remarkable gift is an evocative endorsement of our community of scholars and the contributions they make to science, technology, and society, geared to the future."

The focus on tomorrow is a key element of the Lindes' unusual brand of philanthropy, whose built-in flexibility is expressly aimed at empowering Caltech to adapt to the unknown. "Our philosophy is to allow for flexibility because you can't know the future," Ron Linde says, "and science is about exploring the unknown."

The couple's connection to Caltech reaches back more than 50 years, to Ron Linde's time as a graduate student (MS '62, PhD '64) who earned the Institute's first doctorate in materials science. Maxine Linde, a mathematician, worked as a scientific programmer at the Caltech-managed Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the early days of the U.S. space program.

Ron Linde was elected to the Institute's Board of Trustees in 1989 and has involved himself deeply in Institute governance. Now a senior trustee and vice chair of Caltech's board of trustees, he serves on eight committees and subcommittees of the board. The Lindes have provided substantial financial support to the Institute over the past 25 years, making several multimillion-dollar gifts.

"Our giving is not just a matter of loyalty," Ron Linde says. "We measure the success of our philanthropic investments by the impact achieved per dollar spent. Caltech's long track record speaks for itself. A dollar invested in Caltech can provide unparalleled returns."

Adds Maxine Linde, "As informed investors, we see Caltech as the best opportunity we will ever encounter to have a significant, lasting, personal impact on the world."

Partners in life and in business, Ron and Maxine Linde are chairman and president, respectively, of The Ronald and Maxine Linde Foundation. Ron previously was founder, chairman, and CEO of Envirodyne Industries Inc., a company where Maxine served as general counsel and chief administrative officer.

As philanthropists, the Lindes have supported a wide range of Institute priorities over the years, and the imprint of their generosity is evident across campus. One of their gifts helped establish the cross-divisional Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Global Environmental Science and aided in refurbishing its campus home, the Linde + Robinson Laboratory. Another contribution helped create the interdisciplinary Ronald and Maxine Linde Institute of Economic and Management Sciences. A faculty chair the couple endowed has migrated across fields to meet Caltech's needs as it has changed occupants over the years. The chair is currently held by Alexei Kitaev, the Institute's Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics and inaugural winner of Yuri Milner's Fundamental Physics Prize. A challenge grant from the Lindes made possible the Ronald and Maxine Linde/Caltech Alumni Laboratories at the Institute's Broad Center for Biological Sciences. Other Linde gifts have supported specific research programs.

The Lindes' latest and largest commitment was made in the hope that it would both advance key Institute priorities and motivate others to follow their lead.

"In addition to the dollars we put in, we are confident of Caltech's ability to leverage our investment to find further support down the line," Ron Linde says. "This gift is not an end in itself. It's more of a beginning."

Contact:
Brian Bell
Caltech Media Relations
(626) 395-5832

SOURCE Caltech

Related Links

http://www.caltech.edu/