Google co-founder Sergey Brin made his first major gift to a Jewish charity with a $1 million grant to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. (JD Lasica / Creative Commons) Google co-founder Sergey Brin has given a $1 million gift to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the organization that helped his family escape anti- Semitism and establish itself in the U.S.

It was 30 years ago this month that Brin – who Forbes ranks as the 26th richest person in the world – was a 6-year-old Soviet boy facing an uncertain future, when he arrived in this country with the help of HIAS.

“I would have never had the kinds of opportunities I’ve had here in the Soviet Union, or even in Russia today,” Brin told a New York Times writer during an interview. “I would like to see anyone be able to achieve their dreams, and that’s what this organization does.”

Brin, who is Jewish — as is Google co-founder Larry Page — apparently is ramping up his philanthropy. According to The Times story, he has given several gifts to Jewish organizations that helped his family.

The HIAS gift was announced Oct. 25, on the 30th anniversary of his family’s arrival in the United States.

HIAS, the oldest refugee agency in the U.S, has helped generations of families escape violence and repression in their homelands and resettle in the United States, Israel and elsewhere. Since it was founded back in 1881, HIAS has assisted more than 4.5 million refugees and migrants, including the vast majority of American Jewish families.

“As a refugee himself, Sergey Brin knows better than most the value of living freely in a country that allows people to dream and — through vision, creativity and hard work — fulfill those dreams,” HIAS Chairman Michael Rukin said in a news release. “He and his family were able to build a new life in the United States and, as a result, he was able to create a new industry by changing the way we process and use information. His contributions literally have changed the world.”

While Brin’s gift is small, considering his estimated $16 billion in personal wealth, The Times quoted Brin as saying it signaled a growing commitment by him and his wife, Anne Wojcicki, to engage more substantially in philanthropy.

“We’ve given away over $30 million so far, which isn’t so tiny but obviously small in terms of our, um, theoretical wealth,” Brin said. “Our philanthropy is something I want to take my time with and develop and systematize.”

In The Times story, Brin noted that Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, was widely criticized for not giving away enough money but is now known as one of the world’s leading philanthropists. “While everyone was criticizing him, he was generating a whole lot more money for his foundation, and ultimately, when he got serious about philanthropy, he did it really well,” Brin said. “I’d like to learn from that example.”

It has been reported that the bulk of the money the Brins have given has gone to the Michael J. Fox Foundation and other research organizations devoted to Parkinson’s disease. Brin’s mother, Eugenia, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. In 2008, Brin donated a a large sum to the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where his mother is being treated.

But this year, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Brin family’s immigration to the United States, they have given gifts to several Jewish organizations that aided along the way. HIAS, which helped the family navigate the cumbersome process of leaving the Soviet Union for the United States, paid for tickets, gave them money and helped them apply for visas, received the largest amount.

The family lived in Paris for several months while waiting for visas and then moved to Maryland, and the relationship with HIAS ended. “Although they gave us tremendous help, we didn’t stay connected with HIAS,” said Eugenia Brin, Brin’s mother. “Then a few years ago, I guess because of Google, we got a call from HIAS asking if we could help them digitize their archives.”

Eventually, according to The Times’ story, Mrs. Brin joined the HIAS board and started a social networking site, mystory.hias.org, initially to encourage Russian Jewish immigrants to post their stories and eventually to attract the stories of other immigrants.

Gideon Aronoff, chief executive of HIAS, said the gift would be put to a variety of uses, like increasing the organization’s use of technology and supporting advocacy on immigration policy.

“One of the most important things that Sergey Brin’s gift signifies, not just for HIAS but more importantly for the nation,” Mr. Aronoff said, “is the possibilities inherent in being a refugee. The debate over immigration has frequently become so bitter that an important element has been lost: refugees are as varied in their skills sets and contributions as the rest of us.”

Brin earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland, where he followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps by studying mathematics, double-majoring in computer science.

After graduation, he moved to Stanford to acquire a Ph.D. in computer science. It was at Stanford where he met Larry Page, whom he quickly befriended. They crammed their dormitory room with inexpensive computers and applied Brin’s data mining system to build a superior search engine.

The program became popular at Stanford and they suspended their Ph.D. studies to start up Google in a rented garage.