The University of Waterloo, which has one of the world's leading computer science schools, received a huge boost today when David Cheriton donated $25-million. The money will be allocated to research chairs, faculty fellowships and graduate scholarships. Cheriton, who received his masters in math and PhD in computer science from UofW, is probably best-known for advising two young entrepreneurs - Larry Page and Sergey Brin - and then making a seed investment in their start-up, Google Inc. Cheriton invested $200,000 in Google, and I've seen the value of his stake worth $58 million to $260 million. When Cheriton was asked why a new building was being constructed - a common practice when large donations are received by universities - he dryly replied that "I often think rich people are like dogs and fire hydrants, and want to leave their mark on things. But people are the ones who have the real impact." Cheriton, by the way, was wealthy long before his seed investment in turned into a pot of gold. In 1996, Cisco spent $220-million to buy Granite Systems, which Cheriton co-founded with Andy Bechtolsheim (Sun Microsystem's co-founder), who also was an early seed investor in Google.
For more about Cheriton, click here for the story I wrote in Saturday's Financial Post.