Vanderbilt parents Laurel and Cliff Asness donated $11.25 million on Sept. 25 to the Institute of National Security and the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation. $10 million will support the Institute of National Security and $1.25 million will go to the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation.
According to a university press release, the donation is the largest gift the Institute of National Security has received since its opening in September of last year. To honor the donors, the university plans to rename its annual program, the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats, to the Asness Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats.
The Frist Center lost substantial funding on Jan. 21 because of federal funding cuts to the National Science Foundation. As a result, the center lost the money they used to support Vanderbilt undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D students, train postdoctoral fellows and help students find jobs…