Giving with Passion: The New Philanthropists

Steven Burrill Donations to scientists and scientific projects today often take on a personal flavor. Many relatively young and wealthy entrepreneurs direct their dollars to scientific causes that tap into personal concerns and strongly felt and articulated visions. "I ... [feel] passionately about ... science and technology and the need to build an economy and a society based around science and technology. I believe the education system by and large has not been keeping up in providing our yo

Harvey Black

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Steven Burrill

Donations to scientists and scientific projects today often take on a personal flavor. Many relatively young and wealthy entrepreneurs direct their dollars to scientific causes that tap into personal concerns and strongly felt and articulated visions.

"I ... [feel] passionately about ... science and technology and the need to build an economy and a society based around science and technology. I believe the education system by and large has not been keeping up in providing our young people the excitement to be in science and technology or the skills to do that," says Steven Burrill, the 54-year-old CEO of Burrill & Co., a merchant bank in San Francisco. "I don't see a lot of kids wanting to grow up to be Bill Gates. And that bothers me. So my passion for that causes me to give where that passion is." Burrill recently gave "in excess of $50,000" (he ...

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