Legendary Cosmopolitan magazine editor and author Helen Gurley Brown has gifted $30 million to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and Stanford University’s School of Engineering. The schools will use the funds to establish the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation, which is designed to support new endeavors “with the potential to inform and entertain in transformative ways.”
The late David Brown held degrees from both Stanford University and the Columbia School of Journalism. He was a well-known producer who, along with partners Richard Zanuck and Steven Spielberg, was behind movies including Driving Miss Daisy, The Verdict and Jaws. Later in his career he also was a stage producer whose credits included the musicals Sweet Smell of Success and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Each school will receive $12 million for activities related to the Institute, with the remaining $6 million designated for Columbia to build a high-tech newsroom in a signature space.
“David and I have long supported and encouraged bright young people to follow their passions and to create original content,” Brown said. “Great content needs useable technology. Sharing a language is where the magic happens. It’s time for two great American institutions on the East and West Coasts to build a bridge.”
Related links:
Press release – http://tinyurl.com/88nzmja
http://www.journalism.columbia.edu
