Renowned American billionaire and founder of the hedge fund Citadel, Ken Griffin, has pledged to donate $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University, with approximately $2 billion allocated for establishing a new campus in Miami and another $1 billion designated for the Pittsburgh campus. The university and Griffin announced on Wednesday, September 30th that this donation marks the largest individual contribution in the history of higher education in the United States.
The new campus in Miami will be situated in Wynwood, covering around 35 acres. Construction is planned to commence in 2027, with the first intake of graduate students in 2028 pending necessary regulatory approvals, and undergraduate admissions expected to begin four years later. Once completed, the campus is projected to accommodate approximately 3,500 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students, along with around 300 faculty members and 600 staff.
The university stated that teaching and research at the new campus will focus on areas such as human health and biological discoveries, national security and strategic capabilities, energy and climate resilience, as well as advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.
Furthermore, $1 billion will be invested in Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus. Of this amount, $500 million will go towards the School of Computer Science, which will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science; the remaining $500 million will support the university’s top priorities, including faculty recruitment, increased student funding, and other initiatives. Griffin will also join the board of Carnegie Mellon University.
Founded in 1900, Carnegie Mellon University is renowned for its expertise in computer science, artificial intelligence, robotics, and has campuses in Portugal, Rwanda, Qatar, among other locations.
At 57 years old, Griffin is the founder and CEO of Citadel. Forbes recently estimated his net worth at around $60.5 billion. The university noted that with this donation, Griffin’s cumulative charitable contributions in education, opportunity, and health sciences exceed $5.7 billion.
In recent years, Griffin has directed more funding towards South Florida. In 2022, he relocated Citadel’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami and has since contributed to local universities, public schools, charter schools, and math tutoring programs.
Speaking to Reuters, Griffin emphasized the need for more innovation and job opportunities in the United States, as well as increasing investment in areas where American businesses have a global competitive advantage. He referred to this $3 billion donation as an investment in “excellence.”
Previously, Griffin has made cumulative donations of over $500 million to his alma mater Harvard University and $125 million to the economics department at the University of Chicago.