The University of California, Los Angeles has announced an $11 million gift from physicist Mani Bhaumik to establish a center devoted to advancing knowledge of the basic laws of nature.

The largest gift ever to UCLA's Division of Physical Sciences and Department of Physics and Astronomy will establish the Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics, which will host visiting scholars, organize seminars and conferences for the academic community, and develop a public outreach program.

Born in a remote village in West Bengal, India, Bhaumik came to UCLA in 1959 — "with $3 in my pocket," he said, and money for his airfare raised by his village — on a Sloan Foundation postdoctoral fellowship. As a laser scientist in the private sector, he played a key role in developing the technology now used for high-precision machining and surgery. A member of the UCLA Physical Sciences board of visitors, Bhaumik previously had endowed the Mani L. Bhaumik Presidential Chair in Theoretical Physics and supported research at the university.

"It's very difficult to raise funds for this area, because people don't understand what theoretical physicists do," said Bhaumik. "But physics holds the answers to the most fundamental questions of our very existence. Imagine what could be solved right here at UCLA."