“I saw what good public education can do to uplift kids from humble beginnings,” Riccio, who retired from Apple last year, said in an interview. “To quote my former boss, [Apple CEO] Tim Cook, education is the great equalizer. It certainly was so in my case.”
Most of the money, $40 million, will go to support students and faculty directly, such as through scholarships, fellowships, a chair for biomedical engineering, and professorships. Riccio’s pledge also establishes a $10 million “catalyst fund.” That fund would help the college partner with the medical school to explore the intersection of technology and health, develop an engineering curriculum focused on design with UMass Amherst’s college of humanities and fine arts, and create a leadership program by working with the Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst’s business school.
The university said it would kick in an additional $25 million of its resources to match Riccio’s donation for this work.
Through it all, Riccio will serve as a guiding force. He said he’ll likely have a campus office, and maybe even an apartment in Amherst, and act as a consigliere to engineering dean Sanjay Raman.
“It really is a transformational moment for the university,” said Javier Reyes, UMass Amherst’s chancellor. “We not only get his resources. We get his time. We get his engagement. We get his energy.”
The 1986 graduate and his wife, Diane Riccio, gave $15 million in 2022 to fund neuroscience research at the UMass medical school, where Diane received her doctorate in biomedical science. Riccio has also been active as a liaison between Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple and MIT for more than two decades, until his retirement. But despite being among its best-known alums, Riccio hasn’t had much involvement in UMass Amherst until more recently.
About three years ago, Raman approached Riccio about joining a dean’s advisory committee for the engineering school. Subsequently, Reyes came to UMass Amherst as its new chancellor, and began talking with Riccio about making a major financial pledge.
“He says, ‘If you’ve been given a lot, you have the responsibility to give back,’” Reyes said.
Riccio notes that when it comes to hiring business leaders in engineering, he has had more luck hiring scrappy kids from public universities — “kids that know the meaning of grit and stick-to-it-iveness” — than from the prestigious private ones.
“By making this gift, I think we can have a transformative effect on the future of UMass Amherst,” Riccio said. “It’s signaling a new era of innovation and impact.”
The Riccios currently split their time between Atherton, Calif., and Marblehead. Daniel Riccio said he’s busy with travel, philanthropy, and educational causes, plus rooting for the Red Sox and Patriots — and is not looking for another full-time management job.
“I want to stay busy,” Riccio said. “I’m just hard-wired in that way. But I want to do it on my own terms.”
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.
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