Ken Griffin pledges $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon for new Miami campus and Pittsburgh initiatives
Billionaire hedge-fund founder Ken Griffin announced a $3 billion gift to Carnegie Mellon University, funding a Miami campus and expanding programs in Pittsburgh, including a renamed computer-science school.
Carnegie Mellon University will receive a $3 billion donation from hedge-fund founder Ken Griffin, the largest single contribution to a U.S. university on record. The gift will finance a new campus in Miami, where Griffin resides and Citadel is headquartered, as well as major projects at the Pittsburgh main campus.
The Miami site is planned to accommodate more than 3,500 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students, about 300 faculty members and over 600 staff, with construction expected to start in 2027. The university says the campus will organize education around “societal challenges” such as health, national security, climate resilience and advanced manufacturing.
In Pittsburgh, $1 billion of the donation will be directed to the School of Computer Science and other priorities, including financial aid. The school will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. > "Artificial intelligence represents one of the defining intellectual developments of our time, and it demands that we rethink how we educate students, conduct research and partner with others," university president Farnam Jahanian said in a statement.
Griffin, whose net worth is estimated at about $58 billion, will join Carnegie Mellon’s board of trustees. The contribution adds to his recent philanthropic activity in South Florida, which totals roughly $2.4 billion and includes support for charter schools, local colleges and tutoring programs.