$21 Million

From time to time, we like to highlight large gifts to UCLA that don't involve building structures, but which support research, teaching, and student support. So, consider this:

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has committed to donating $21 million to the UCLA Institute for Carbon Management to support the institute’s mission of developing new carbon removal technologies designed to combat climate change. Over the next three years, the gift will enable the institute to further develop promising technologies for carbon removal, bringing them from the lab to the field, and to test and validate the technologies at scale in real-world settings.  

“The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s generous investment, coupled with Bruin innovation, will allow the revolutionary technologies being developed at the Institute for Carbon Management to become more accessible, affordable and sustainable for communities,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. “This gift will help us build on the outstanding research, ingenuity and activism of UCLA students and faculty to strengthen our position as a leader when it comes to carbon management and the fight against climate change.”

Founded in 2018 at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, the Institute for Carbon Management focuses on developing technologies to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate their commercialization. The institute’s director is Gaurav Sant, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, and of materials science and engineering. In April 2021, UCLA CarbonBuilt, a team led by Sant, became the first university team in the world to win an XPRIZE, earning a $7.5 million grand prize in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE global competition. Sant and his colleagues were honored for a UCLA-developed technology that turns carbon emissions into concrete...

Full release at https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/institute-carbon-management-chan-zuckerberg-initiative.