$12 Million Gift from Brown University Alumnus Orlando Bravo and the Bravo Family Foundation to Fund Two Professorships and Catalyze New Economic and Policy Research at Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I., April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A $12 million gift from a family foundation founded and led by accomplished business leader and Brown University alumnus Orlando Bravo will fund the establishment of two endowed professorships and support research focused on pivotal economics and policy issues.

The creation of the Orlando Bravo University Professor in Economics and Policy faculty positions — jointly appointed within Brown's Department of Economics and Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs — will strengthen the University's ability to recruit and retain outstanding scholars and advance research and teaching in economics and policy. The gift is among the largest ever to support economic policy research at Brown.

Brown University President Christina H. Paxson said the gift from the Bravo Family Foundation will benefit current and future Brown students, who will have the opportunity to learn from and conduct research alongside the leading scholars the University will be able to appoint.

"These two endowed professorships position Brown to grow our leading-edge economics department for years to come, while also creating momentum for collaborative scholarship at the Watson School, where we are educating the next generation of policy leaders," said Paxson, a professor of economics and international and public affairs. "The generosity of Orlando Bravo and his family will advance Brown's impact as a leading research university by broadening economics and public policy scholarship at a time of momentous challenge."

The Bravo Family Foundation and Bravo's gift builds on a legacy of support, which includes a transformative $25 million gift to Brown in 2019, part of which funded the launch of the Orlando Bravo Center for Economic Research. To date, Bravo and his foundation have donated more than $45 million to the University. A Brown Class of 1992 graduate, Bravo earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science and went on to co-found Thoma Bravo, the world's largest software-focused investment firm with more than $183 billion in assets under management, where he is a managing partner.

"My family and the Bravo Family Foundation hope this gift will enable Brown University to continue to recruit the absolute best faculty to support both the Department of Economics and the Watson School," Bravo said. "We specifically chose to allocate funding for the professorships to enable professors to explore research in exciting new and expanded ways. We're glad to be able to support my alma mater in a significant way that will stand to impact future generations to come."

Expanding economics and policy scholarship
John N. Friedman, inaugural Vascellaro Family Dean of the Watson School, said the latest Bravo gift is a critical catalyst to support the strategic growth of research and teaching at the school, which launched in July 2025 and is built on the foundation of the well-established Watson Institute.

"The strength of the Watson School starts with its faculty, who are jointly appointed from departments across the University," Friedman said. "This gift will enable our new policy school to expand our dynamic faculty of scholars and teachers at the frontiers of their respective fields, who are coming together to help make breakthroughs and discoveries on the world's most complex policy challenges."

Kareen Rozen, chair of Brown's Department of Economics, said the professorships will help to expand the breadth of top-notch faculty at what is already a world-class department.

Rozen said the Bravo Center for Economic Research has been an essential catalyst for high-impact economics research since it launched in 2019.

Giving back to expand opportunities
Bravo and his wife, Katy, founded the nonprofit Bravo Family Foundation in 2017 after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and they were contacted by communities asking for help. The foundation focuses on funding initiatives that benefit community development, education and young entrepreneurs.

For Bravo, who has also served as a trustee on the Corporation of Brown University, it has been especially meaningful to give back to his alma mater and the scholars who advance Brown's teaching and research, he said. In addition to support for economics, the Bravo Family Foundation previously made a $1 million gift to Brown's Faculty Development Fund, which supports research and travel for faculty at Brown, and created a scholarship fund to support students.

"Coming from a small town in Puerto Rico, Brown was the first place that gave me opportunity, and it was everything for me," Bravo said.

That experience embedded a deep appreciation for the power of opportunities and relationship-building that he carried into his successful professional career, he said.

"We have built our entire business at Thoma Bravo based on people," Bravo said. "All our luck in the world has been based on people, so that's the way we think about philanthropy, too. We are so optimistic about what people can do with more resources."

SOURCE Brown University