Physicist donates $11m for new research center

LOS ANGELES, CA — Mani Bhaumik, an Indian American physicist and philanthropist, provided UCLA with a sizeable gift that will establish an institute at the university devoted to the basic laws of nature.

The university announced on June 21 that Bhaumik gave a donation of $11 million, considered the largest gift in the history of its department of physics and astronomy, as well as the division of physical sciences.

The gift is part of the $4.2-billion UCLA Centennial Campaign, which is scheduled to conclude in December 2019 during UCLA’s 100th anniversary year.

As a result of the donation, the university will establish the Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics, which it intends to become a world-leading center for theoretical physics research and intellectual inquiry.

Faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students will use the new institute to attempt to determine unanswered questions about the laws of nature — as theoretical physicists do.

“I thank Mani Bhaumik for his philanthropic leadership and for believing in UCLA,” said UCLA chancellor Gene Block in a statement. “He shares our goal of ensuring that UCLA remains vibrant, relevant, strong and among the best in the world.”

The new institute will host visiting scholars, organize seminars and conferences for the academic community, and begin a public outreach program to teach the community about scientific advances made by UCLA physicists.

Bhaumik earned a master’s degree at the University of Calcutta and a doctorate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. He later attended UCLA on a Sloan Foundation postdoctoral fellowship for which the people of his village helped raise money for his airfare.