$6.5 million gift is largest ever for Science Museum of Minnesota

The estate of a former University of Minnesota professor has given the Science Museum of Minnesota $6.5 million, the largest philanthropic gift in the museum's 117-year history.

The gift came from William D. Wells, who long was an advocate for improving education and literacy in science, technology, engineering and math.

"We are so grateful to Dr. Wells and his family for helping us pursue bold science and create lifelong learning opportunities for generations to come," the museum said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

The gift, the museum said, will be used to fund the William D. Wells Chair of Science position, which oversees the museum's research efforts as well as the care of its collections.

"We are proud and honored to be the recipient of Dr. Wells' historic gift," said Alison Rempel Brown, president and CEO of the Science Museum of Minnesota. "At the Science Museum, our work is driven by our mission to create and deliver powerful, bold STEM experiences so more people can use science to improve lives."

Until Wednesday, the largest donation the nonprofit museum overlooking the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul had received in recent years was a $1 million gift from an unnamed donor to pay for operations in 2019.

Wells had established himself as one of the country's leading authorities on the advertising industry before he taught at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. He died in September 2020.

Wells' estate previously donated $9 million to Twin Cities PBS.