Private foundation · New York, NY (gives in Tennessee from out of state)
The Simons Foundation Inc.
This foundation says it only funds groups it chooses itself. Don't send an unsolicited application. If your work fits, the usual path is an introduction through someone the foundation already knows, such as a board member or a current grantee. See its board and officers below: do you or your board know any of them?
Key facts
- Grants in Tennessee
- 16 totaling $393K
- Typical grant
- $8,400 to $8,400 (middle half of its Tennessee grants)
- A realistic first ask
- About $8,400, its median Tennessee grant. New grantees usually get less than long-time ones.
- Where it gives
- Davidson County, Shelby County, Knox County, Williamson County, Rutherford County · plus 1711 grants outside Tennessee
- Buildings & equipment
- None of its Tennessee grants in this filing were for buildings or equipment
- Funds new groups?
- 86% of the Tennessee groups it funded in 2024 were new (not funded in 2023): 6 of 7.
- Total giving that year
- $272M
Giving by year
| Tax year | Total grants paid | To Tennessee | Tennessee grants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $272M | $393K | 16 |
| 2023 | $291.4M | $640K | 9 |
How to apply
The foundation's filing doesn't describe how to apply. Look for a website, or send a short letter asking whether it accepts requests.
Board and officers
Does your board know anyone here?
Checked in your browser only. The names are kept on this device for other foundation pages and are never sent to GrantMe.
- Marilyn SimonsCo-chair of the board
- James SimonsCo-chair (thru 5/2024)
- David EisenbudTrustee
- Emery N BrownTrustee
- Peter LittlewoodTrustee
- Andrew GoldenTrustee (as of 6/2024)
- Shirley M TilghmanTrustee/vice chair
- William H PressTrustee
- Cornelia BargmannTrustee
- Jill PipherTrustee (as of 10/2024)
- Ingrid DaubechiesTrustee
- Bill FordTrustee (as of 6/2024)
- David SpergelPresident
- Euan RobertsonCoo
- Marlow KeeCfo/treasurer
- Brett DakinGen. counsel/sec./chief compl. off.
As listed in its 2024 IRS filing. Many foundations decide through their board, so a personal connection often matters more than a perfect application.
What it funds most often
- Cognitive computational neuroscience (ccn) 2024 conference
- Robust, reliable, and provably stable spectral element methods for nonlinear advection dominated problems
- Discrete min-max problems on non-smooth sets
- Local rigidity of group actions on manifolds
- Artin stacks, stringy invariants, and matroids
- On the global dynamics of lotka-volterra competition patch models
- The contiuum of virus-host interactions: environmental drivers of horizontal gene transfer and virus effects
- Unexpected alliances: dissecting host-virus entanglement and its influences on competitiveness in marine niches
Tennessee organizations it funded
Largest first. Groups it already funds are good people to ask what the foundation looks for. Select a group to see who else funds it.
| Recipient | Where | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| The University of Tennessee | Memphis, Shelby County | Unexpected alliances: dissecting host-virus entanglement and its influences... | $144K |
| The University of Tennessee | Memphis, Shelby County | The contiuum of virus-host interactions: environmental drivers of horizontal... | $140K |
| Vanderbilt University Medical | Nashville, Davidson County | 2024 incentive funding | $9,700 |
| Florida State University Res Fdn | Tallahassee | Robust, reliable, and provably stable spectral element methods for nonlinear... | $8,400 |
| Florida State University Res Fdn | Tallahassee | Discrete min-max problems on non-smooth sets | $8,400 |
| Florida State University Res Fdn | Tallahassee | Local rigidity of group actions on manifolds | $8,400 |
| Florida State University Res Fdn | Tallahassee | Artin stacks, stringy invariants, and matroids | $8,400 |
| Middle Tennessee State University | Murfreesboro, Rutherford County | On the global dynamics of lotka-volterra competition patch models | $8,400 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | Fluid flow on surfaces | $8,400 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | Automorphic forms, polynomials, and cohomology | $8,400 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | Asymptotically locally euclidean kahler manifolds | $8,400 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | Embeddings, traversability, and structure of graphs | $8,400 |
| University of Tennessee Fdn | Knoxville, Knox County | Problems in algebraic matroids | $7,315 |
| University of Tennessee Fdn | Knoxville, Knox County | Nonstandard regularity estimates for equations with singular-degenerate... | $7,315 |
| Cognitive Computational Neuro Corp | Brentwood, Williamson County | Cognitive computational neuroscience (ccn) 2024 conference | $5,000 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | Spark vanderbilt | $5,000 |
Foundation website All its IRS filings (ProPublica) Sign in to save