The
Massiah Foundation
®
Venture Philanthropy: We do not give gifts, we make "philanthropic investments."
Welcome to the Massiah Foundation Site
Massiah Foundation seeks opportunities to make innovative, transformational or charitable contributions in areas within its expertise that can result in broad public benefit mainly in education, health, or arts/culture.
Recent News
June 2010
The Massiah Foundation helps establish
the Kamelia Massih Outstanding
Student and Faculty in the Arts Prize
at Portland State University
April 2010
Massiah Foundation Sponsors Field
Trip to Abu Dhabi for 58 MIT Students,
Alumni, and Staff
December 2009
Massiah Gives $3.9 Million to PSU's
Fariborz Maseeh Department of
Mathematics and Statistics
Education
Health
Arts and Culture
The Massiah Foundation makes investments in educational institutions and individuals that offer opportunities to fulfill its investment philosophy.
The Massiah Foundation is committed to inspiring the best healthcare possible and achieving breakthroughs in medicine.
The Massiah Foundation makes investments in the arts and culture that help preserve our knowledge of civilization and promote creativity.
Philosophy of Giving
Our philosophy in short: "We do not give gifts, we make investments". The Massiah Foundation seeks to strictly adhere to this philosophy of venture philanthropy. Massiah pursues investment opportunities that will create the most significant social impact per invested capital. Massiah support can generally be divided into three primary categories: Education, Health and Arts/Culture. In making its investments, the Massiah Foundation looks for philanthropic opportunities that embody the following three attributes:
Innovative
Transformational
Charitable
Innovative Investments: The Massiah Foundation seeks opportunities with the intent to create what did not exist. One of our Innovative examples is the creation of The Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies at University of California at Irvine (UCI). The Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies
is the first independent campus center in the United States for Persian Studies and Culture.
Transformational Investments: The Massiah Foundation invests in opportunities that will have a transformational result through leverage with others. For instance, the Massiah Foundation awarded a transformational contribution to Portland State University to empower the creation of the new Northwest Center for Engineering facility together with the creation of a number of faculty endowments and student scholarships.
Charitable Investments: The Massiah Foundation makes contributions to causes that are traditionally ignored by mainstream. One such recurring contribution is the Massiah Foundation's continued scholarship support of low income high school graduates that go to college. Over the years we have supported 200 scholarships mostly anonymously.
The Massiah Foundation makes investments in educational institutions and individuals that offer opportunities to fulfill its investment philosophy. The Massiah Foundation's investments are designed to inspire excellence in education.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
School of Engineering
Biography of Provost Reifhttp://web.mit.edu/provost/biography.html
Press Releasehttp://www.eecs.mit.edu/AY04-05/announcements/19.html
2009 Awardeeshttp://cee.mit.edu/node/1055
http://web.mit.edu/civenv/html/people/alumni_newsletters/summer_03/art6.htm
Portland State University
School of Engineering and Computer Science
Department of Mathematics
Other
University of California Irvine
Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture
Announcementhttp://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/7093
http://www.today.uci.edu/news/nr_medal_090526.php
Websitehttp://www.humanities.uci.edu/persianstudies/
Maseeh Chair in Persian Studies (Comparative Literature)
Maseeh Chair in School of the Arts (Persian Performing Arts)
Howard Baskerville Chair in Humanities (Persian History)
Community Investments
Newport Mesa School District
Massachusetts Institute of Techology
Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science
The Massiah Foundation is committed to inspiring the best healthcare possible and achieving breakthroughs in medicine. It seeks opportunities where it can make transformational or innovative investments in healthcare.
Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC)
Virtual Tour http://www.choc.org/tourfiles/index.cfm
Hoag Hospital
Description and Photos
http:www.hoaghospitalfoundation.org/donorstories.aspx?pid=47
http://www.hoaghospitalfoundation.org/SlideShowDisplay.aspx?sid=1&mh=500
Art and Culture
The Massiah Foundation makes investments in the arts and culture that helps preserve our knowledge of civilization and promotes creativity.
http://www.pdx.edu/news/portland-state-university-establishes-the-
kamelia-massih-outstanding-student-and-faculty-prizes-in
http://www.iranica.com/newsite/aboutiranica/index.isc
Support for new Nishapur Gallery of Persian Art
Ellis Island Awards
http://www.neco.org/awards/recipients/fariborzmeseeh.html
About the Benefactor
The Massiah Foundation's founder and president, Fariborz Maseeh is at heart both a scientist and an entrepreneur. His undergraduate and graduate studies in the fields of mechanical engineering and applied mathematics inspired him to pursue the field of micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS). In 1991 he founded IntelliSense with the vision to reduce the time and expense of creating next-generation MEMS devices that had broad industrial and humanitarian applications---from airplane landing gear to pace makers. As his company grew, so did his desire to give back to the community. Ever grateful to his inspiring teachers and educational institutions that nurtured his skills and dreams his philanthropy is inclined towards education, youth, scientific innovation, healthcare and culture.
Mr. Maseeh founded the Massiah Foundation in 2001 on the concept of venture philanthropy. This means that the Massiah Foundation targets unique opportunities to invest in entities that will have a lasting and broad impact. It also seeks to leverage its resources to attract co-investors from the community so that the goals of impact and longevity will be realized.
The Massiah Foundation mirrors Mr. Maseeh's entrepreneurial spirit as he applies management principles to improve the value of the Foundation's social investments. It also applies his solution-based approach toward innovation and finding unique opportunities to serve and unite people and their communities.
Portland State University Establishes the Kamelia Massih Outstanding Student and Faculty Prizes in the Arts
(Portland, Ore.) May 26, 2010 Donations to Kamelia Massih's memorial have contributed to the establishment of a permanent endowment for Portland State University's School of Fine and Performing Arts that will fund annual Kamelia Massih Outstanding Student and Faculty Prizes for PSUs School of Fine and Performing Arts.
Upon the passing of former PSU student Kamelia Massih on March 19, 2010, her family requested that in lieu of flowers, her friends, family and colleagues donate to a memorial fund established at Portland State University in her honor. These contributions along with the donation of Dr. Massih's brother, PSU alumnus Fariborz Maseeh through his Massiah Foundation, created the Kamelia Massih Endowment for the Arts.
The Kamelia Massih Endowment for the Arts was established to recognize outstanding students and faculty in PSU's School of Fine and Performing Arts with annual prizes. One Kamelia Massih Outstanding Student Prize and one Kamelia Massih Outstanding Faculty Prize will be awarded on an annual basis to those individuals who have brought innovation to their discipline, demonstrated excellence in performing and/or fine arts and exemplify PSU's commitment to community engagement.
"The School of Fine and Performing Arts is honored to have the opportunity to recognize excellent students and faculty through a memorial for Dr. Kamelia Massih." Dean Barbara Sestak, Portland State University's School of Fine and Performing Arts.
A beloved Portland optometrist, Dr. Kamelia Massih, was a true American success story. Born and raised in Tehran, she came to the United States in 1978, initiated her studies in biology at Portland State University and subsequently graduated in 1981 from Oregon State University. After completing a doctorate in optometry at Pacific University, she opened her own practice, Beaverton Vision World in 1989. She later opened a second clinic in downtown Portland near the Portland State University campus. She cared deeply about others and gave her time and resources to a wide range of local and national charities. She was a dedicated wife and mother who loved travel, the outdoors and above all else, fine arts, music and dance. Dr. Massih passed away on March 19, 2010, after a three-year battle with cancer.
About Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) serves as a center of opportunity for over 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Located in Portland, Oregon, one of the nation's most livable cities, the University's innovative approach to education combines academic rigor in the classroom with field-based experiences through internships and classroom projects with community partners. The School for Fine and Performing Arts exemplifies Portland State's commitment to community engagement. PSU's motto, "Let Knowledge Serve the City," inspires the teaching and research of an accomplished faculty whose work and students span the globe.
Massiah Foundation sponsors a field trip to Abu Dhabi for 58 MIT Students, Alumni, and Staff
A group of 58 MIT students, alumni and staff recently returned from a five-day trip to Abu Dhabi to study the practical application of technology for renewable energy solutions.
The trip was part of Terrascope, a yearlong program for first-year students that begins each fall with a mission to solve an unsolvable or very complex problem. The students spend the fall semester designing a viable solution and then travel during spring break to a location related to the complex problem where they experience the reality of the solutions they have proposed.
Click here to see photos and read students' blogs.
Massiah Foundation awards $80,000 to Terrascope Program
Massiah Foundation announces gift to support a field research trip during spring break in 2010.
Debra Aczel
The Massiah Foundation has announced that it will give $80,000 to MIT's Terrascope Program to help support its annual field study trip during spring break of 2010.
The Terrascope program, inaugurated in 2002, presents entering freshmen with the opportunity to develop solutions to compelling environmental problems. Students work together in teams to design and develop their own solutions, which are then presented to a panel of experts and the general public.
Since its inception, Terrascope has emphasized the integration of fieldwork with research. Past topics have included creating a plan for the redevelopment of post-Katrina New Orleans, followed by a visit to New Orleans to meet with residents and those charged with planning for the citys future. Most recently, Terrascope students developed a plan to solve the deepening problem of water shortages in the Southwest, and then visited Arizona to see sites of their years study. This years freshmen are tackling the multi-faceted issue of carbon sequestration as a means of modifying earths climate.
The goal of Terrascope is to train freshmen to think creatively about interdisciplinary problem solving at the start of their academic careers. The field component serves as a reality check on their solution. For example, it is one thing to allocate water usage in the Southwest, quite another to visit the people most affected by it. Field visits help focus students on the problem as well as the full impact of their proposed solutions.
This year, students will study carbon sequestration the capture, transport, and disposal of the vast quantities of carbon dioxide being produced at ever-increasing rates via the consumption of fossil fuels. Their proposed solution will involve the integration of science, engineering, economics and international politics.
Thanks to the Massiah Foundations award, the students will have the chance to couple their research with the crucial visit to a location where they can best learn about all of the issues associated with climate management.
The Massiah Foundation was established to provide charitable financial support to outstanding organizations with the potential to improve the future of humanity. Since its inception, the foundation has made significant contributions to various learning institutions, universities, childrens organizations, hospitals, cultural organizations, the arts, and general welfare organizations in the United States.
This incredibly generous contribution will make it possible for another group of MIT undergraduate students to gain a hands-on, field based approach to the myriad issues associated with carbon sequestration, according to Sam Bowring, Terrascope director and professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences.
Portland State University Receives $3.9 Million Investment for Computational Science
________________________________________
(Portland, Ore.) Dec. 7, 2009 Portland State University (PSU) alumnus Fariborz Maseeh (FAHR-uh-borz
mah-SEE) through his Massiah Foundation has made a $3.9 million philanthropic investment in computational science in PSUs Department of Mathematics and Statistics, which has been renamed the Fariborz Maseeh Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
Computational scientists create computer simulations and data analysis tools that predict the behavior of extremely complex systems that shape everyday life, such as the atmosphere, oceans, tectonic plates, airplanes, freeways, and cells and genes. This investment will allow the department to be more versatile and collaborative with other PSU departments and with many businesses in the broader Portland metropolitan region.
A way to overcome economic and global competitive challenges, is to produce better talents in our society. Investing in better education will contribute to that, said Maseeh. With significant global competition facing us, now is the time to contribute to our educational institutions. Investments fostering collaboration between academia and business will lead to useful and practical breakthroughs in the future. I am honored to be a part of the transformation of PSUs Math and Statistics Department.
This gift, which comes from PSUs largest individual donor, will support upgrades in the departments facilities and will add three new faculty positions in computational science, five annual research fellowships, a lecture series, and symposium.
Once again Fariborz Maseeh is setting an example of excellence, said Wim Wiewel, president of Portland State. His generosity shows the way to making PSU the internationally competitive urban research university that Portland needs.
Maseeh is an internationally respected expert and entrepreneur in micro-electro-mechanical systems. He previously made an $8 million gift to the College of Engineering and Computer Science, which now bears his name. He has also been supporting scholarships and seminars at the Mathematics and Statistics Department for the past four years.
To promote internal and external partnerships and region-wide benefit, PSU will conduct national searches to recruit computational science faculty with track records of collaboration with the health sciences, finance, engineering, computer science, and other fields.
These scientists will create jobs at PSU and elsewhere in the region by attracting external funding for research and by partnering with other regional researchers and businesses to make our region more competitive.
In addition to renaming the department, PSU will recognize Maseehs gift by naming faculty positions supported by his gift the Maseeh Distinguished Chair in Computational Mathematics and the Maseeh Professors in Computational Mathematics. The graduate research fellowships supported by his gifts will be known as the Eugene Enneking Fellows, after one of Maseehs mentors at Portland State.
For more information, go to www.pdx.edu.
About Fariborz Maseeh
A first-generation American born in Iran, Fariborz Maseeh received both his B.S. in structural engineering and M.S. in mathematics from Portland State, an M.S. in engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and has earned a doctorate of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Maseeh founded and later sold one of the worlds first and fastest-growing companies specializing in the custom design, development and manufacturing of tiny, micro-mechanical chips used in products ranging from cardiac pacemakers to aircraft landing gears. He serves on the advisory boards of a number of universities including MIT, PSU, UCI and USC.
About The Massiah® Foundation
Massiah Foundation was established to make innovative, transformational or charitable contributions in areas within its expertise that will result in broad public benefit mainly in education, health, or arts/culture. For more information visit www.massiah.com.
Portland State University (PSU) serves as a center of opportunity for over 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Located in Portland, Oregon, one of the nations most livable cities, the Universitys innovative approach to education combines academic rigor in the classroom with field-based experiences through internships and classroom projects with community partners. The Universitys 49-acre downtown campus exhibits Portland States commitment to sustainability with green buildings, while many of the 213 bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees incorporate sustainability into the curriculum. PSUs motto, Let Knowledge Serve the City, inspires the teaching and research of an accomplished faculty whose work and students span the globe.
The Oregonian - Former student gives Portland State $3.9 million
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/12/former_student_gives_portland.html
Portland Business Journal - PSU receives $3.9 million from alumnus
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/12/07/daily3.html
Portland Mercury - $3.9 Million Gift For PSU
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2009/12/07/39-million-gift-for-psupdc-loses-2million-so-were-up-19-million-before-lunch
KGW TV - PSU gets $3.9 million donation from alum
http://www.kgw.com/home/PSU-Gets-Huge-Donation-78733407.html
October 2009
Massiah Foundation's Benefactor is Honored at University of California Irvine's Medal Ceremony
Contact the Massiah Foundation
Massiah Foundation does not solicit applications. If you have a special interest you would like to present we will take it under review to see if it meets our current priorities. Please fill out the information below and give a short description of your project. If your project is of interest someone will contact you. Please do not directly contact us.
During UCI's 2009 Medal Ceremony the Massiah Foundation's benefactor, Fariborz Maseeh, was honored for his philanthropic contributions. A video of the ceremony will be posted soon.
http://www.ucifuture.com/NEWS09/2009%20Medal%20Recap.html
For more information visit http://www.pdx.edu/news/portland-state-university-establishes-the-kamelia-massih-outstanding-student-and-faculty-prizes-in.
