The Groening Chair

The New York Times announces that Matt Groening has endowed a chair in animation at UCLA.

As if getting his familiar signature on “The Simpsons” wasn’t enough of a distinction, Matt Groening has now added his name to a chair in animation at the University of California, Los Angeles, for which he has donated the Mr. Burns-ly sum of $500,000, the school announced on Monday.

Mr. Groening, the artist and creator of that long-running animated Fox series (which celebrates its 500th episode on Sunday), will be the namesake of the Matt Groening Chair in Animation at the U.C.L.A. School of Theater, Film and Television. The endowment will “allow visiting master artists to teach classes” and “bring working professionals with wide-ranging expertise” to work with students, the university said in a news release.

An alumnus of the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., Mr. Groening also gives an annual gift of $50,000 to U.C.L.A. that is used to support students who create short animated films with socially conscious themes.