Ken Griffin Pledges $3 Billion to Carnegie Mellon

Ken Griffin is donating $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University to create a new campus in Wynwood, Miami, and to support programs at the university’s Pittsburgh campus.

Most of the gift will finance the Miami campus. About $1 billion is earmarked for Carnegie Mellon’s computer science school and for student financial aid. The school will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. University officials noted the funds will support faculty recruitment and undergraduate and graduate scholarships in Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Mellon plans the Miami campus to focus on human health and biodiversity, national security, energy and climate resilience, and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation. Graduate students are expected to begin classes at the Wynwood site in 2028, and undergraduate programs are scheduled to start in 2032. The gift will speed program development and infrastructure planning for the new campus.

Griffin will join Carnegie Mellon’s board of trustees. The university’s board already includes alumnus and hedge fund founder David Tepper. Griffin moved the headquarters of his hedge fund, Citadel, from Chicago to Miami in 2022.

The donation continues Griffin’s recent pattern of large gifts to higher education and scientific research. Past contributions include $500 million to Harvard and $125 million to the University of Chicago’s economics department. Since Citadel’s relocation, his support for South Florida institutions and programs totals about $2.4 billion, covering charter schools, the University of Miami, Miami Dade College and public school initiatives. With the Carnegie Mellon pledge, his lifetime charitable giving is about $5.7 billion, according to the university and Griffin’s foundation.

University officials said the Miami campus will extend Carnegie Mellon’s geographic reach and create new partnerships with local industries and research institutions while maintaining operations and program growth in Pittsburgh.