Medford man who made good donates $50 million to Museum of Science

Michael Bloomberg, who used to visit the Museum of Science regularly as a kid, is donating $50 million to bolster its educational efforts.

After leaving Medford, Bloomberg went onto found an eponymous financial-data and news concern before becoming the first of two Boston-area mayors of New York.

"I know how important this Museum is and what an impact it can have on young people -- because I was one of those young people,” said Bloomberg. “My visits to the Museum inspired my interest in science and technology and forever shaped the way I think. People often remember the first teacher to have a profound impact on their lives. For me, that teacher was the Museum of Science."

Not only does the gift help the Museum inspire visitors to think, learn, and question; it significantly amplifies the Museum's ability to imagine, create, and distribute world-class exhibits and programs, K-12 curricula, engineering design challenges, and Planetarium shows on a global scale. For decades, the Museum's dynamic interactive experiences have inspired people of all ages regardless of background, gender, or learning style through diverse, engaging environments exploring the interconnectedness of the natural and engineered worlds.

The $50 million gift provides an endowment for the support of the Museum's Education Division to be named the William and Charlotte Bloomberg Science Education Center in honor of Michael Bloomberg’s parents. It also provides funds to research, design, develop, pilot-test, and disseminate computational thinking/computer science curriculum and activities, as well as funds to develop and produce high quality food-science initiatives.