Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is donating a staggering $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), marking what is expected to be the largest single donation in the history of domestic higher education.
Griffin, the founder and CEO of global hedge fund Citadel, announced on September 30 that $2 billion of the total $3 billion will be used to build a new CMU campus in Miami, Florida.
The remaining $1 billion will be used to strengthen education and research, including expanding the computer science faculty at the main campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and providing student financial aid.
Notably, CMU’s world-renowned School of Computer Science will be renamed the ‘Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science’ in honor of the donor. The university plans to use the donation to recruit top-tier professors and researchers while expanding financial support to reduce students’ tuition burdens.
Griffin told Reuters that this is ‘the largest single investment in higher education in U.S. history,’ describing the donation as ‘an investment in excellence.’ CMU President Farnam Jahanian also expressed deep gratitude for Griffin’s vision and trust in the university’s potential.
