MassMutual makes large donation for UMass technology

June 16, 2016 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

Nick Fyntrilakis
Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs

SPRINGFIELD – The Mass Mutual Foundation’s donation to two academic programs at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) is expected to increase not just the education of students in two fields, but build the regional economy.

Nick Fyntrilakis, the company’s vice president of Community Responsibility and the president of the MassMutual Foundation announced on June 10 the foundation will contribute $15 million over the next 10 years to the university.

The Center for Data Science on the Amherst campus will receive $12 million for its “big data” research and educational programs. Three million dollars will be given for additional research and a new Trust Assurance Cybersecurity certificate program at the UMass Springfield Center for Training in Cybersecurity.

Fyntrilakis told Reminder Publications there are thousands of jobs in both fields and MassMutual, through this gift, “wants to be in the forefront, taking [education] to the next levels.

He noted that “big data” – which analyzes quantities of information that are too large to do so by traditional efforts – “is changing everything; how every industry works.”

Cybersecurity is “the primary threat” to both the national as a whole and industries, Fyntrilakis added.

The gift is one of the largest made by the foundation.

During the announcement Fyntrilakis said the foundation wants to see the advancements in both fields happen in Western Massachusetts.

Marty Meehan, the president of the university said the grant, “illustrates why interacting with business and industry is so important.”

UMass is third in the Commonwealth behind Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in money spent in research, Meehan added.

The announcement drew two of the Commonwealth top political leaders both of whom praised the grant. Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo said the grant “sets up on the path to become the world’s first data hub.”

State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said, “The lack of cyber security plunges everything we value in jeopardy.”

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said, “The opportunities that evolve from this are tremendous.”

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