Our Supporters


LSST Discovery Alliance (LSST-DA) gratefully acknowledges our supporters. Their investment will ultimately revolutionize humankind’s understanding of the Universe and transform the way science is done. Join us in supporting this exciting work. Every donation makes a difference!

Private Foundations

  • Brinson Foundation
  • Heising-Simons Foundation
  • John Templeton Foundation
  • Moore Foundation
  • Research Corporation for Science Advancement
  • Schmidt Futures Foundation

Founding Corporate Philanthropic Partner

Wasabi Technologies was the first founding Corporate Philanthropic Partner of LSST-DA and recently renewed its partnership in 2023. Learn why Wasabi partnered with LSST-DA and about Wasabi’s innovative cloud storage solutions.

Summer Student Program 2023

Thank you to all our donors for the 2022 year-end matching campaign. These donations allowed for undergraduates to engage in LSST Science Data, workshops, and travel.

  • Amanda Bauer
  • Federica Bianco
  • Owen Lefkon
  • Michael Blanton
  • Dana Lehr
  • Claudio Bottaccini
  • KT Lim
  • Danielle Browning
  • Lucas Macri
  • Patricia Burchat
  • Valeria Macri
  • Gregory Dobler
  • David MacFarlane
  • Pat Eliason
  • Knut Olsen
  • Rose Fadely
  • Kathryn Johnston
  • Jennifer Sobeck
  • Harry Ferguson
  • Lisa Storrie-Lombardi
  • Ranpal Gill
  • Michael Strauss
  • Larry Gladney
  • Susan Sweeney
  • Suzanne Hawley
  • William Vasey
  • Zeljko Ivezic
  • Beth Willman
  • Buell Jannuzi
  • Ken Willman
  • Saurabh Jha
  • Michael Wood-Vasey

Legacy Donors

A number of donations in the early days (1998-2010) of LSST were pivotal to the successful launch of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (formerly the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) Project, which will carry out the Legacy Survey of Space & Time. Since these inaugural donations and activities, the mission of LSST-DA has pivoted from direct support of Rubin Observatory construction to transforming the scientific and societal impact of the survey itself through philanthropic activities. We thank these foundational contributions in perpetuity:

Learn why visionaries Charles Simonyi and Bill Gates support Rubin Observatory LSST.

Gifts from Private Contributors $10,000,000 and above

  • Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences
  • Bill Gates

Additional Private Contributions

  • Anonymous*
  • Richard Caris*
  • W. M. Keck Foundation*
  • Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs*
  • Research Corporation for Science Advancement*
  • Wayne Rosing and Dorothy Largay*
  • Eric and Wendy Schmidt*
  • Edgar Smith*
  • Robert & Joyce Wisner

* exceeding $1,000,000

Financial Contributions from Universities

  • Stanford University*
  • NCSA/University of Illinois*
  • University of California at Davis*
  • The University of Arizona
  • University of Washington

* $500,000 or greater

In-kind Contributions from Members or Affiliates exceeding $1,000,000

  • Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • IN2P3, France
  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • AURA/NOIRLab
  • NCSA/University of Illinois
  • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory