Sep 15, 2025 - News

Former Apple exec gives $50M to boost STEM at UMass Amherst

Mike Deehan

Aerial view of a university campus featuring a tall brick building, a stone clock tower, green lawns, pathways, and a pond with three water fountains under a cloudy sky. — UMass Amherst. Photo: Blake Nissen for the Boston Globe via Getty Images

Daniel Riccio, a retired executive who spent 26 years at Apple, has committed $50 million to UMass Amherst, the largest donation in university history.

Why it matters: Riccio's donation is meant to close gaps in STEM education and leverage his product development expertise from groundbreaking Apple devices like the iMac, iPhone and iPad.

Driving the news: UMass's engineering college will be renamed the Daniel J. Riccio Jr. College of Engineering.

$40 million will create a permanent endowment for undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, faculty recruitment and research initiatives in engineering.
The other $10 million is going to a catalyst fund to support cross-disciplinary research initiatives.

Zoom in: Revere native Riccio graduated from UMass in 1986 with a mechanical engineering degree.

He previously donated $15 million in 2022 for ALS research to the UMass Chan Medical School.

The bottom line: The huge gift positions UMass engineering to lure top technology talent, while the new fund could put the school on the front line of innovation.

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Former Apple exec gives $50M to boost STEM at UMass Amherst

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