Summer Science Program Receives $200M Bequest from Qualcomm Co-Founder, Plans Expansion

Program aims to double enrollment next year, expand into new STEM subjects, and partner with additional universities, following unexpected bequest from alum who co-founded Qualcomm.

• Qualcomm Co-Founder, Franklin Antonio, bequeathed an estimated $200 million to the Summer Science Program, a nonprofit dedicated to providing high school juniors with intensive six-week research courses.
• Despite the surprise gift being about 100 times the organization's annual budget, CEO Frank Steslow stressed the group wants to carefully consider how to best use the funds to maintain and expand the program.
• The program plans to double its student enrollment to more than 400 next summer while increasing its annual budget to over $7 million, without changing the size of the individual cohorts.
• One of the major considerations for the future of the program is to expand into partnerships at new universities and broaden into new STEM subjects, keeping in line with the core identity of the program.
• A key focus of the board's strategic planning includes outreach to underserved students who may not have been able to apply or partake in the past, with consideration of offering future stipends to participants.

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