Baidu executive donates $14.5m to Anhui university

Ma Dongmin, special assistant to the chairman of Chinese internet giant Baidu, has donated 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) to the University of Science and Technology of China.

The money, from Ma’s own pocket, will be used to support the university in several areas, including development of the School of the Gifted Young, an extension of its Class of the Gifted Young, according to a news release on Sunday.

The university said it is the largest donation made by any individual in its 60-year history.

Ma was enrolled in the Class of the Gifted Young at USTC - based in Ma’s hometown of Hefei, Anhui province - in 1985 at age 15.

She went to the United States for further education after five years of undergraduate studies at USTC and gained a PhD. She met Li Yanhong in 1995 in US and married him in the same year.

The couple returned to China and jointly founded Baidu in Beijing in 2000.

Ma ranked the ninth richest Chinese women in 2017, with a personal wealth of 28 billion yuan, according to the Hurun Research Institute.