ETH Zurich Fondation (USA)

ETH Zurich Foundation (USA), Inc. is the American fundraising entity affiliated with the ETH Zurich Foundation (ethz-foundation.ch), which was established to let US-based donors contribute tax-deductibly to ETH Zurich, one of the world's leading science and technology universities based in Zurich, Switzerland. The US entity received its IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in July 2020 and is headquartered in New York City. The foundation's primary role is to connect US donors — individuals, alumni, corporations, and philanthropic foundations — with funding opportunities at ETH Zurich. Gifts may be directed toward research projects, student scholarships, new professorships, entrepreneurship programs, or specific facilities. The foundation organizes donor engagement events including lab visits and meetings with ETH Zurich researchers. In the AI and machine learning space, the ETH Zurich Foundation (USA) has served as a pass-through for grants from US-based funders to ETH Zurich researchers working on AI safety and trustworthy AI. In March 2024, Open Philanthropy granted $25,000 through this entity to support a Trojan detection competition at the 2024 Security and Trustworthy ML conference, involving ETH Zurich PhD student Javier Rando Ramirez and assistant professor Florian Tramer. The ETH Zurich Foundation also supports the ETH AI Center, which conducts research on reliable and transparent AI systems, and the Swiss AI Initiative launched in December 2023 to develop trustworthy large language models. The organization is governed by a small volunteer board: officers include President Alex Hochuli, Vice President Dr. Donald Tillman, and Treasurer Remo Spühler, with directors Professor Shana Sturla, Dr. Chris Luebkeman, and Dr. Daniel Wuersch. US operations are staffed by Jocelyn A. Sanders as Director of Partnerships and Philanthropy USA. According to Charity Navigator, the organization currently holds a 3 out of 4 star rating.