Harvard University has announced a $350 million gift from Giving Pledger Hansjörg Wyss, (MBA’65) to support the mission of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Established in 2009 with an initial gift of $125 million from Wyss, the institute seeks to transform health care and the environment by developing technologies that emulate the way nature builds—and translating those technologies into products through startups and corporate partnerships. Wyss Institute scientists and engineers collaborate with colleagues across Harvard’s schools of Medicine, Engineering, Arts & Sciences, and Design, as well as with 12 academic institutions and affiliated hospitals in the Boston-Cambridge region and across the globe to create bio-inspired technologies that address major problems in health care and sustainability.

A native of Switzerland and founder of Synthes USA, Wyss has supported the institute with subsequent gifts of $125 million in 2013 and $131 million in 2019.

“I have been tremendously proud to watch the Wyss Institute grow into the remarkable engine for innovation and entrepreneurship that it has become today, and I want to recognize and congratulate the institute’s leadership, entire faculty, and staff for working so tirelessly to realize my initial vision of working together across disciplines to solve some of the greatest challenges that we face as a society,” said Wyss. “It has been very gratifying to see the numerous advances in science and technology that have been achieved since the institute was founded. I hope others will see what this team has accomplished in such a short time and join me in helping to build this incredible enterprise and expand its impact even further in the years to come.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/SL Photography)