'Simpsons' creator Matt Groening donates $500,000 to UCLA

UCLA’s film school is getting some d'oh!

"The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening has donated $500,000 to UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, creating an endowment for working professionals to teach students in the school’s animation program, university representatives announced Monday.

The gift will create the Matt Groening Chair in Animation, which will fund visiting artists. The school said it’s not the famed animator’s first donation -- he is also behind an annual $50,000 gift to support student production of animated shorts with social responsibility themes, currently in its second year.

“His groundbreaking animated series have truly changed the landscape of television and have become a gold standard for animation and great storytelling throughout the entertainment industry,” Dean Teri Schwartz said in a statement.

Groening, the winner of 12 Emmy Awards, created the long-running animated series in 1989. The show is in its 23rd season. His "Futurama" series debuted in 1999.

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Image: Matt Groening self-portrait. Credit: Fox