Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin is donating $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), according to an announcement from the institution on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. The university stated the gift is the largest individual donation in the history of higher education. Griffin will also join the university’s Board of Trustees.
Carnegie Mellon, which is based in Pittsburgh, plans to use $2 billion of the gift to establish a new branch campus in Miami. The university intends for the Miami location to support approximately 3,500 undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students, along with 300 faculty members and more than 600 staff. The institution noted that the project is intended to address technological changes, specifically the development of artificial intelligence.
The remaining $1 billion will be directed toward the university’s Pittsburgh campus. According to the institution, approximately $500 million of that sum will be invested in the School of Computer Science, which will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. The other $500 million is designated for high-priority needs, including research in national security, climate resilience, and biological discovery.
Students and faculty will notice the most concrete changes starting in 2027, when construction on the Miami site is scheduled to begin. The new campus in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood is expected to begin enrolling its first students in 2028. The university has not yet reported specific deadlines for the disbursement of the remaining $1 billion for the Pittsburgh campus operations.