Chuck Lorre, co-creator of the hit television comedy The Big Bang Theory about young scientists in Southern California, is boosting support for some of their future real-life counterparts.
Through his family foundation, Lorre is pledging $24.5 million to the University of California, Los Angeles to help more low-income students study science and technology. Adding to a program he began in 2015, the donation will double the number of undergraduate scholarship recipients with financial needs to 80 each year, UCLA said in a statement Monday.
“The lack of finances is something I understand extremely well,” Lorre said in an interview. He dropped out of the State University of New York at Potsdam and carried a student loan of about $2,000 for 15 years because he didn’t have the money to pay it off, he said.
His gift will fund the creation of the UCLA Chuck Lorre Scholars Program, which will support students and offer four years of mentoring and other services, plus opportunities for graduate school funding.
While Lorre, 71, doesn’t have a direct tie to UCLA, he began supporting the school after a suggestion from Sherry Lansing, a friend who had formerly served as a high-ranking Hollywood executive and member of the University of California Board of Regents. A UCLA physics professor, David Saltzberg, served as a science consultant for The Big Bang Theory, and provided technical help with formulas shown on whiteboards in the show.
“We always wanted to get the science right on the show,” Lorre said. “That was real math, and that was all from David.”
Lorre also created other successful shows such as Two and a Half Men and Young Sheldon, a spinoff of The Big Bang Theory.