Mark Stevens, a board member of Nvidia Corp., and his wife Mary Stevens have pledged $175 million to help establish the first new medical school in the San Francisco Bay Area in more than 100 years, according to a joint announcement by Sutter Health and Santa Clara University. The new institution, named the Mark & Mary Stevens School of Medicine, will be developed through a partnership between the nonprofit healthcare system and the university. The school is planned for Santa Clara, located south of San Francisco and just a few miles from Nvidia’s headquarters. The donation is the largest gift ever received by both organisations, as reported by Bloomberg.
School to focus on AI-powered healthcare
The future medical school will place a strong emphasis on the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare delivery. In a statement, Mark Stevens said the institution would be at the forefront of applying AI technologies to medicine and would help train the next generation of physicians and clinicians. The facility will span approximately 82,000 square feet and include classrooms, simulation facilities and an anatomy laboratory. Sutter Health expects the school to enrol about 120 students per class once it opens following a multi-year accreditation process.The school will be in Santa Clara, south of San Francisco and about two miles from Nvidia’s headquarters. Sutter Health said the 82,000-square-foot facility will have classrooms, simulation rooms and an anatomy lab. It expects to enrol about 120 students per class. The school will open only after a multiyear accreditation process.
Partnership backed by major California institutions
Mary Stevens, a graduate of Santa Clara University’s 1984 class, has long supported the institution alongside her husband. The couple previously donated nearly $40 million for athletics facilities at the university. California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is also an alumnus of Santa Clara University, welcomed the initiative and described it as “a new model for medical education built to support a more innovative, connected healthcare system.“
Record gift, second big donation in 10 days
The gift is the largest ever received by both Santa Clara University and Sutter Health, a nonprofit. It comes 10 days after Stevens announced a $200 million donation to his alma mater, the University of Southern California. Stevens told Bloomberg that the USC money is meant to recruit faculty and bring AI into research across many fields, rather than to fund new buildings. Stevens joined Nvidia’s board in 1993, after an investment by his former venture firm, Sequoia Capital. That early bet has lifted his net worth to $13.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Nvidia wealth fuels giving
Nvidia’s rise has produced several recent nine-figure gifts. In January, fellow director Tench Coxe gave $100 million from his $8.6 billion fortune to help launch a medical center at the University of Texas at Austin. CEO Jensen Huang, who has a fortune of $194.7 billion and ranks seventh richest in the world, had to give away $345 million from his foundation in 2025 to meet Internal Revenue Service requirements. He could owe nearly $500 million this year. The directors’ gifts have mostly gone to education and healthcare, two areas hit by federal funding cuts. Not every effort has succeeded. Huang gave $22.5 million in 2025 to try to save the California College of the Arts, but Vanderbilt University bought the struggling school in January.
