陳天橋夫婦捐資美國大腦研究大綱
A billionaire couple who pioneered internet Games in China are donating $115m to the California Institute of Technology for brain research in an effort to help humans accept mortality.
身爲中國互聯網遊戲先驅的一對億萬富豪夫婦向加州理工學院(Caltech)捐贈1.15億美元用於大腦研究，目的是幫助人類接受死亡。
The gift by Tianqiao Chen and Chrissy Luo, founders of Shanda — which began life as an online games developer before transforming into an investment group with stakes in Lending Club and Legg Mason — underlines the increasingly prominent role played by mainland Chinese entrepreneurs in global philanthropy.
盛大(Shanda)創始人陳天橋和雒芊芊(Chrissy Luo)的這筆捐贈突顯中國大陸企業家在全球慈善事業中扮演越來越重要的角色。盛大最初是一家網絡遊戲開發商，後來轉型爲一家投資集團，持有Lending Club和美盛(Legg Mason)股份。
“How can we cure death? That is the key of our philanthropy vision,” Mr Chen told the Financial Times. Understanding how the brain and mind worked would enable people to master emotions such as pain and fear.
“我們如何治癒死亡？這是我們慈善願景的關鍵，”陳天橋對英國《金融時報》表示。瞭解大腦和思維如何工作，將使人們能夠駕馭疼痛和恐懼等情緒。
“Why can’t we accept death?” he said. “Because of fear, because of pain — all the negative perception.”
“爲什麼我們不能接受死亡？”他說。“因爲恐懼，因爲疼痛——所有這些負面的觀感。”
The gift, which includes endowed funds, will create a neuroscience institute at Caltech named after the couple. They say it is intended for pure research, the direction of which will be decided by the university.
包括捐贈資金的這份禮物將在加州理工學院創建一個以這對夫婦命名的神經科學研究所。他們表示，該所將開展純研究，具體方向將由校方決定。
This will include building a $200m biosciences facility at the university in Pasadena, California. Caltech is contributing resources to the project.
這將包括在位於加州帕薩迪納(Pasadena)的這所大學建造一座2億美元的生物科學設施。加州理工學院將爲該項目貢獻資源。
Thomas Rosenbaum, Caltech president, said the university and the couple shared a vision of translating scientific insights into the brain into a “deeper understanding of how human beings perceive and interact with the world”.
加州理工學院院長托馬斯.羅森鮑姆(Thomas Rosenbaum)表示，該校和這對夫婦共享一個願景，那就是把對大腦的科學洞察轉化爲“對於人類如何感知世界、如何與世界互動的更深入理解”。
The initiative is the latest high-profile donation to elite US universities by a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs.
此舉是中國新一代企業家向美國精英大學作出高調捐贈的最新一例。
Chinese Ivy League graduates such as Neil Shen of Sequoia China have been generous donors to their alma maters. Zhang Xin, the real estate mogul, and Pan Shiyi, her husband, signed a $15m gift agreement with Harvard in 2014.
常春藤大學的中國畢業生，如紅杉中國(Sequoia China)的沈南鵬(Neil Shen)，已向各自的母校慷慨捐贈。房地產大亨張欣和她的丈夫潘石屹在2014年與哈佛大學(Harvard)簽訂1500萬美元的“SOHO中國助學金”協議。
In May, Charles Chen Yidan, Tencent co-founder, launched a $7.6m annual award aimed at recognising outstanding research in education.
今年5月，騰訊(Tencent)聯合創始人陳一丹(Charles Chen)發起了一項760萬美元的年度獎，旨在表彰傑出的教育研究。
Mr Chen, 43, and his wife, 40, founded their business together in 1999 and have a fortune of $3.43bn, according to the Hurun Report’s annual China Rich List.
現年43歲的陳天橋和40歲的妻子在1999年創業。根據《胡潤中國百富榜》(Hurun China Rich List)，他們的身價達到34.3億美元。
Nasdaq-listed Shanda Interactive became the largest Chinese games company by market capitalisation in 2004, later spinning off its games unit Shanda Games in a separate US initial public offering that raised $1.04bn — the biggest US public offering for a Chinese internet business at the time.
在納斯達克(Nasdaq)上市的盛大互動(Shanda Interactive)在2004年成爲中國市值最大的遊戲公司，該公司後來剝離其遊戲部門盛大遊戲(Shanda Games)，將其在美國進行首次公開發行(IPO)，募得10.4億美元，當時這是中國互聯網企業在美國最大規模上市。
Shanda Group sold its stake in Shanda Games in 2014. The privately owned Singapore-based investment group has about $8bn in net assets under management, according to Mr Chen’s LinkedIn profile.
盛大集團(Shanda Group)於2014年出售其在盛大遊戲所持股份。根據陳天橋的領英(LinkedIn)個人資料，這家總部位於新加坡的私有投資集團旗下管理着大約80億美元淨資產。
As well as its substantial stakes in US public companies, Shanda Group is an investor in ElMindA, an Israeli start-up specialising in medical technology analysing brain function, and SpaceVR, a US start-up that aims to offer virtual reality space tourism.
除了在美國一些上市公司持有大筆股份，盛大集團還投資於ElMindA（以色列初創企業，專業開發分析大腦功能的醫療技術）和SpaceVR（美國初創企業，有志提供虛擬現實太空旅遊）。
The couple plans to hire a chief scientist for Shanda Group to help direct future charitable giving and say the philanthropic support for brain research dovetails with an investment interest in technology that interfaces between computers and people.
這對夫婦計劃爲盛大集團聘請一位首席科學家，由其幫助指導未來的慈善捐贈，他們表示，對大腦研究的慈善支持，與他倆對計算機與人類之間接口技術的投資興趣相吻合。
“Our philanthropy is to find out the secret of the brain, but our technology is to leverage our brain,” Mr Chen said.
“我們的慈善事業是瞭解大腦的祕密，但我們的技術是利用我們的大腦，”陳天橋說。
