Priscilla Chan

Priscilla Chan (born February 24, 1985) is an American philanthropist and a former pediatrician. She and her husband, Mark Zuckerberg, a co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms, established the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in December 2015, with a pledge to transfer 99 percent of their Facebook shares, then valued at $45 billion. She attended Harvard University and received her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco.

This article is about the American philanthropist. For other uses, see Priscilla Chan (disambiguation).

Priscilla Chan
Chan in 2018
Born (1985-02-24) February 24, 1985[1]
Braintree, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materHarvard University (ALB)
University of California, San Francisco (MD)
Occupations
Title
Spouse
​
(m. 2012)​
Children3

Life and career

On February 24, 1985, Chan was born in Braintree, Massachusetts,[3] and grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts. Her parents were Chinese immigrants from Vietnam who fled the country in refugee boats.[4][5] Chan grew up speaking Cantonese and interpreted for her grandparents. She has two younger sisters.[6] Chan's father owned a restaurant in Massachusetts, which he later sold to run a wholesale fish company in 2006. Chan graduated valedictorian of her class from Quincy High School.[6]

Chan first met Mark Zuckerberg during her freshman year at Harvard University in 2003. During her time at Harvard, she participated in the Franklin Afterschool Enrichment program.[7] After graduating in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in biology, she taught science at the private Harker School for a year before entering medical school at the University of California, San Francisco in 2008,[8] where she finished her pediatrics residency in 2015.[9][6] She is the first college graduate in her family.[6]

In 2016, she co-founded "The Primary School", a nonprofit organization that would provide K–12 education as well as prenatal care, in East Palo Alto, California.[6] She is the board chair of the school.

Personal life

Chan married Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on May 19, 2012, the day following Facebook's historic IPO.[6] They have three daughters: Maxima[upper-alpha 1][10] (born December 2015),[11][12][13] August (born August 2017),[14] and Aurelia (born March 2023).[15]

According to a Facebook post by Zuckerberg, Chan is a non-denominational Buddhist.[16]

Philanthropy
Main article: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Zuckerberg and Chan have pledged about $4.6 billion to charities,[17] including a donation of $75 million to San Francisco General Hospital, where Chan worked.[6][18][19] In 2013, they gave 18 million Facebook shares (valued at more than $970 million) to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The Chronicle of Philanthropy placed the couple at the top of its list of 50 most generous American philanthropists for that year.[20] They also pledged $120 million to public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.[5]

On December 1, 2015, Chan and Zuckerberg posted an open Facebook letter to their newborn daughter. They pledged to transfer 99 percent of their Facebook shares, then valued at $45 billion, to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is their new limited liability company that focuses on health and education.[5][17]

Chan handles the day-to-day operations at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.[18] Her charitable goals focus on education, healthcare, and science, which are closely tied to her personal background.[6] She is considered to have had a strong influence on the philanthropy of her husband.[5] She was one of six nominated for The San Francisco Chronicle's third annual Visionary of the Year award in March 2017. The award honors leaders who strive to make the world a better place and also drive change by employing new, innovative business practices.[21]

Notes
  1. "Max", Cantonese Yale: Chàhn Mìhngyúh, Mandarin pinyin: Chén Míngyǔ, written 陳明宇.

References
  1. "Facebook's Royal Wedding". The New York Times. May 25, 2012. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  2. "Our Leadership". Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  3. Shanahan, Mark (July 30, 2010). "Mark Zuckerberg's lady friend is local". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  4. Womack, Brantly (2006). China and Vietnam: Politics of Asymmetry. Cambridge University Press. pp. 26–28. ISBN 0-521-85320-6.
  5. Christina Cauterucci (December 1, 2015). "Priscilla Chan's Formidable Influence on Mark Zuckerberg's Philanthropy". Slate. Archived from the original on December 2, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  6. Hope King (December 1, 2015). "Who is Priscilla Chan?". CNN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  7. Cambridge, Phillips Brooks House Association Harvard Yard. "Priscilla Chan, in rare interview, tells how her goals with Mark Zuckerberg are shaped by personal story". Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  8. King, Hope (December 1, 2015). "Who is Priscilla Chan?". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  9. "Dr. Priscilla Chan MD Pediatrics General Pediatrics". U.S. News. February 10, 2021. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021.
  10. Kell, John (February 8, 2016). "Mark Zuckerberg Reveals Daughter's Chinese Name". Fortune. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved February 29, 2016. In a pretty adorable video shared by the tech executive over the weekend, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan said their daughter Max's Chinese name is Chen Mingyu.
  11. Lamagna, Maria (December 3, 2015). "How Kim Kardashian and Priscilla Chan differ when it comes to 'push presents'". Market Watch. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  12. Chandler, Adam (December 1, 2015). "A $45 Billion Birth Announcement". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  13. "Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to give away 99 percent of their Facebook stock, worth $45 billion". Washington Post. December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  14. "Mark Zuckerberg and family welcome new baby". CBC News. August 29, 2017. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  15. Hartmans, Avery (September 21, 2022). "Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are expecting baby No. 3". Insider. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  16. Sam Littlefair (October 27, 2015). "Mark Zuckerberg says "Buddhism is an amazing religion"". Lion's Roar. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  17. "Mark Zuckerberg Vows to Donate 99% of His Facebook Shares for Charity". The New York Times. December 1, 2015. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  18. Wagner, Kurt (July 10, 2017). "Priscilla Chan is running one of the most ambitious philanthropies in the world". Vox. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  19. Safian, Robert (October 2018). "Exclusive: The amazing ascent of Priscilla Chan". Quartz. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  20. "Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg biggest giver in 2013". USA Today. February 10, 2014. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  21. "Philanthropy earns Priscilla Chan Visionary of the Year nomination". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
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