Key Takeaways
- • The Simons Foundation hosted a tribute on June 27, 2025, in its Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium to honor co-founder Jim Simons, who died on May 10, 2024.
- • The event featured six lectures from leading researchers spanning biomedicine, neuroscience, artificial intelligence and physics, followed by a panel on philanthropic funding of basic research.
- • Speakers including Foundation Chair Marilyn Simons, President David Spergel and Azrieli Foundation Chair Naomi Azrieli emphasized high-risk, high-reward funding as a core part of Simons' philanthropic philosophy.
- • Participants cited the Simons Foundation as a model for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, with trustee Cori Bargmann saying the team "copied what Jim and Marilyn did."
- • Sen. Chuck Schumer, in a message read at the event, credited Simons with helping draw greater federal government involvement in science.
Summary
The Simons Foundation held a tribute event on June 27, 2025, at its Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium to honor Jim Simons, the mathematician and philanthropist who co-founded the foundation with his wife Marilyn Simons in 1994 and died on May 10, 2024. According to the foundation's account, Simons gave away billions of dollars to math and science research and education over his lifetime. Marilyn Simons, the foundation's chair, said "Jim loved being at the frontiers" and described his focus as "pursuing fundamental knowledge."
The program included six lectures by preeminent researchers on topics from biomedicine and neuroscience to artificial intelligence and physics, along with a panel on the importance of philanthropic funding in basic research. Foundation President David Spergel said the best way to honor Simons was "to continue to do and support superb science." The event highlighted the foundation's emphasis on high-risk, high-reward projects that foster collaboration, a philosophy Simons championed.
Speakers drew a link between private philanthropy and the limits of public funding. Naomi Azrieli, chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation, said public funding cycles carry a "built-in risk aversion" and that philanthropy can fund "high-risk, high-reward, [and] sometimes crazy, outlandish ideas." Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna of UC Berkeley, who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize for CRISPR research, said academia and the nonprofit sector face challenges that philanthropy must help address. Harvard Medical School geneticist David Emil Reich said generous philanthropic support "can make a big difference to U.S. labs."
Cori Bargmann, a Simons Foundation trustee and neuroscientist at Rockefeller University, said the Simons model informed the early development of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which she helped start after being asked by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. Alessio Figalli, director of the Institute for Mathematical Research at ETH Zurich, recalled Simons first as a mathematician, noting his co-discovery of Chern-Simons invariants with Shiing-Shen Chern. Nima Arkani-Hamed of the Institute for Advanced Study described Simons as "an absolutely extraordinary human being."
A message from New York Senator Chuck Schumer, read at the event, said Simons was among the few people who did "more to promote science and to get the federal government more involved in science." Computer scientist Jennifer Chayes of UC Berkeley said Simons' influence will likely persist for decades. Recordings of the lectures are available on the Simons Foundation website and on YouTube.
The program included six lectures by preeminent researchers on topics from biomedicine and neuroscience to artificial intelligence and physics, along with a panel on the importance of philanthropic funding in basic research. Foundation President David Spergel said the best way to honor Simons was "to continue to do and support superb science." The event highlighted the foundation's emphasis on high-risk, high-reward projects that foster collaboration, a philosophy Simons championed.
Speakers drew a link between private philanthropy and the limits of public funding. Naomi Azrieli, chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation, said public funding cycles carry a "built-in risk aversion" and that philanthropy can fund "high-risk, high-reward, [and] sometimes crazy, outlandish ideas." Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna of UC Berkeley, who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize for CRISPR research, said academia and the nonprofit sector face challenges that philanthropy must help address. Harvard Medical School geneticist David Emil Reich said generous philanthropic support "can make a big difference to U.S. labs."
Cori Bargmann, a Simons Foundation trustee and neuroscientist at Rockefeller University, said the Simons model informed the early development of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which she helped start after being asked by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. Alessio Figalli, director of the Institute for Mathematical Research at ETH Zurich, recalled Simons first as a mathematician, noting his co-discovery of Chern-Simons invariants with Shiing-Shen Chern. Nima Arkani-Hamed of the Institute for Advanced Study described Simons as "an absolutely extraordinary human being."
A message from New York Senator Chuck Schumer, read at the event, said Simons was among the few people who did "more to promote science and to get the federal government more involved in science." Computer scientist Jennifer Chayes of UC Berkeley said Simons' influence will likely persist for decades. Recordings of the lectures are available on the Simons Foundation website and on YouTube.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.