A number of donations in the early days (1998 - 2010) of LSST were pivotal to the successful launch of the Rubin (formerly Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) Project. Since these inaugural donations and activities, the mission of LSSTC has pivoted from direct support of Rubin/LSST construction to transforming the scientific and societal impact of the survey itself through philanthropic activities. The Rubin Project is now an independent, federally-funded facility.
We acknowledge and thank these foundational contributions in perptuity:
Gifts from Private Contributors $10,000,000 and above
- Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences
- Bill Gates
Additional Private Contributions
- Anonymous*
- Richard Caris*
- W. M. Keck Foundation*
- Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs*
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement*
- Wayne Rosing and Dorothy Largay*
- Eric and Wendy Schmidt*
- Edgar Smith*
- Robert & Joyce Wisner
* exceeding $1,000,000
Financial Contributions from Universities
- Stanford University*
- NCSA/University of Illinois*
- University of California at Davis*
- The University of Arizona
- University of Washington
* $500,000 or greater
In-kind Contributions from Members or Affiliates exceeding $1,000,000
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- IN2P3, France
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- National Optical Astronomy Observatory
- NCSA/University of Illinois
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory