By Alicia Park
Publication Date: 2026-05-15 18:38:00
Topline
Nvidia director and venture capitalist Mark Stevens and his wife Mary are donating $175 million to establish the Mark & Mary Stevens School of Medicine, a joint venture between Sutter Health and Santa Clara University that will be the first new medical school in the San Francisco Bay Area in more than 100 years—10 days after the couple committed $200 million to the University of Southern California to fund its AI research.
Mark Stevens
Photo by Nancy Rothstein/Courtesy of Mark Stevens
Key Facts
The gift is the largest ever received by both Santa Clara University and nonprofit Sutter Health, according to a joint statement issued Friday.
The 82,000-square-foot campus will be built in Santa Clara, roughly two miles from Nvidia’s headquarters, and will house classrooms, simulation rooms and an anatomy lab.
The school plans to enroll about 120 students per class and will open after completing a multiyear accreditation process.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, also a Santa Clara alum, called the partnership “a new model for medical education built to support a more innovative, connected healthcare system.”
Mary Stevens graduated from Santa Clara University in 1984, and the couple previously gave nearly $40 million toward the school’s athletics facilities.
Forbes Valuation
Stevens’ fortune is worth $12.5 billion, built largely on an early Nvidia bet, according to Forbes estimates. He was an investor at venture firm Sequoia Capital where he made early investments in Google,…