---
title: $8.16M Gift Honors Longtime Supporter of UMD Science and Arts
date: 2026-07-29T11:17:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/8-16m-gift-honors-longtime-supporter-of-umd-science-and-arts"
section: Articles
---
# $8.16M Gift Honors Longtime Supporter of UMD Science and Arts

*July 29, 2026* — by [Chris Carroll](/author/chris-carroll)


> The Brin family’s commitment was matched by a $3.25M award from the state for 2 endowed chairs.

*Brin gift 1920x1080 — A new $8.16 million gift will fund UMD work to fight Parkinson's disease, expand the reach of theater into nontraditional spaces, and improve data integration for weather and climate forecasts. (Left and right images via Adobe Stock, center via Unsplash.)*

<span>Innovative approaches to using climate data to improve weather forecasts and save lives. New ways to engage audiences by expanding the frontiers of live performance. Cross-cutting research to fight the world’s fastest-growing neurological disease.</span>

<span>Those are among the goals behind a new $8.16 million commitment to the University of Maryland honoring the late Eugenia Brin, wife of mathematics Professor Emeritus Michael Brin and mother of Google co-founder Sergey Brin ’93 and Samuel Brin ’09.</span>

<span>The Brin family’s newest gift supports </span>[*Forward: The University of Maryland Campaign for the Fearless*](https://forward.umd.edu/)<span>, an ambitious fundraising initiative to raise $2.5 billion to expand access to UMD’s first-rate education, spur transformative research and create stronger communities.</span>

<span>It directs nearly $3.1 million to an endowed chair and lectureship aimed at improving the use of data in meteorology and climate science, an equal amount to support the development of “expansive theater” in nontraditional performance venues, and $2 million to support an endowed chair for Parkinson’s disease research. Collectively, the family’s long record of philanthropic support of the university totals some $65 million.</span>

<span>The funding for the endowed chairs will be matched by a $3.25 million award from the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund (MEIF), a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at colleges and universities.</span>

<span>"The Brin family's partnership with the University of Maryland has helped shape our university through investments in exceptional people and bold ideas,” said UMD President Darryll J. Pines. “This latest commitment, honoring Eugenia Brin's legacy, builds on that relationship by investing in outstanding faculty, pioneering research in weather, climate and Parkinson's disease, and bold artistic innovation. We are deeply grateful for the Brin family's continued confidence in Maryland and the lasting opportunities this gift will create for our students, faculty and the communities we serve."</span>


*Four people stand in a row, with the two people in center holding an award plaque. — Professor Emeritus Michael Brin and Eugenia Brin, shown in an undated photo flanked by former CMNS Dean Jayanth Banavar and former mathematics Chair Jim Yorke. (Photo courtesy of CMNS)*


*Four people sit in a restaurant booth, hugging each other and smiling. — From left, Michael Brin, Samuel Brin &#039;09, Sergey Brin &#039;93 and Eugenia Brin in an undated photo. (Image courtesy of CMNS)*




**Topics:** [Campus &amp; Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Mathematics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/mathematics), [Theatre, Dance &amp; Performance Studies](https://today.umd.edu/topic/theatre-dance-performance-studies), [Institute for Physical Science and Technology](https://today.umd.edu/topic/institute-for-physical-science-and-technology), [Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/arts), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities), [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences), [Institute for Health Computing](https://today.umd.edu/topic/institute-for-health-computing), [Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center](https://today.umd.edu/topic/earth-system-science-interdisciplinary-center)