Carnegie Mellon University has received a $3 billion gift from Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, including $1 billion for the university’s Pittsburgh campus and $2 billion to establish Carnegie Mellon University Miami.
CMU said the donation is the largest individual gift in higher education history and also represents Griffin’s largest philanthropic gift to date.
Of the $1 billion designated for Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus, $500 million will provide flexible support for the university’s highest priorities.
Another $500 million will fund Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science, which will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science.
The remaining $2 billion will finance the launch of CMU Miami, a new comprehensive university campus planned for more than 35 acres in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.
The campus is being designed around major societal challenges rather than the traditional university structure of organizing education primarily around academic majors.
CMU said the model is intended to bring students, faculty, researchers, businesses, and government partners together around interdisciplinary problems that require expertise spanning multiple academic fields.
Initial areas of focus will include human health and biological discovery, national security and strategic capabilities, energy and climate resilience, and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.
The university also plans to use the Miami campus as a testing ground for new approaches to curriculum, teaching, research, and hands-on learning.
Arts, humanities, and design will be incorporated alongside computing, engineering, science, and technology, reflecting Carnegie Mellon’s existing interdisciplinary model.
CMU is particularly well known for its work in artificial intelligence, computer science, robotics, machine learning, engineering, cybersecurity, business, public policy, and the arts.
The university said rapid advances in artificial intelligence are part of the reason it sees an opportunity to rethink how future students are educated and how university research organizations are structured.
Rather than operating CMU Miami as a satellite location offering a limited collection of existing programs, Carnegie Mellon plans to develop it as a comprehensive campus where research and education have equal importance.
Once fully built, CMU Miami is expected to support more than 3,500 undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students, nearly 300 faculty members, and more than 600 staff members.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, subject to regulatory approvals, with the university currently targeting 2028 for the enrollment of its first students.
Plans include facilities for academic programs and research as well as industry research laboratories and venture studios, creating spaces where students and faculty can work directly with businesses and other organizations.
The campus itself is intended to function as a living laboratory for experimentation and collaboration while maintaining connections with Carnegie Mellon’s existing locations.
The announcement also represents a major investment in Carnegie Mellon’s original Pittsburgh campus.
In addition to the flexible capital being made available to the broader university, the $500 million investment in the School of Computer Science is intended to strengthen an academic organization that has played a significant role in the development of computer science, robotics, artificial intelligence, and human-computer interaction.
Carnegie Mellon has previously established what it describes as the world’s first robotics institute and human-computer interaction institute, along with the nation’s first college dedicated to computer science.
Griffin will also join Carnegie Mellon’s Board of Trustees as part of his expanded relationship with the university.
The gift further extends Griffin’s philanthropic work through Griffin Catalyst, his civic engagement initiative supporting education, science, healthcare, arts, culture, and other areas.
Griffin founded Citadel in 1990 and later helped establish Citadel Securities in 2002.
Citadel Securities has grown into a major global market maker serving more than 1,600 institutional clients, while Citadel manages capital for institutional investors including pensions, university endowments, hospital systems, foundations, and research organizations.
For Carnegie Mellon, the gift provides funding both to strengthen its existing Pittsburgh operations and build a major new academic and research presence in Miami.
The university expects CMU Miami to attract students, researchers, industry partners, and entrepreneurs while contributing to Miami’s growing technology and innovation economy.
The broader goal is to create an institution organized around solving complex real-world challenges rather than requiring interdisciplinary collaboration to occur primarily across separate academic departments after those organizations have already been established.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are deeply grateful to Ken Griffin for his extraordinary vision, partnership and belief in what Carnegie Mellon can achieve. Throughout our history, CMU has anticipated moments of profound technological change and responded with new ways of thinking and solving problems. 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. Together, we have an opportunity to extend the very qualities that have long distinguished Carnegie Mellon — our agility, creativity, interdisciplinary culture and relentless focus on impact — to build a new model for higher education that meets the urgency of this moment.
Every great Carnegie Mellon story begins with partnership. Our relationship with Pittsburgh has shaped CMU for more than a century, and we believe the connections we build in Miami will enrich both cities. We look forward to listening, learning and working alongside our neighbors to create new opportunities for collaboration, innovation and shared prosperity.”
Farnam Jahanian, President Of Carnegie Mellon University
“Carnegie Mellon University has made profound contributions to America’s preeminence in science, engineering, technology, and the arts and humanities. Since its founding, Carnegie Mellon has fostered remarkable talent, pioneered scientific breakthroughs, and expanded the frontiers of research — shaping global leaders and innovators.
The opportunity to bring Carnegie Mellon to Miami places our city at the heart of humanistic and scientific advancement and amplifies the University’s international reach and impact. It is a tremendous privilege to be part of this historic moment. CMU Miami represents a generational opportunity to build a new center of research and intellectual life — one that will attract exceptional students, scholars, and researchers from across the globe and rank among the world’s most important academic institutions. Building upon the University’s record of excellence in educating and inspiring the next generation, CMU Miami will cultivate the talent, knowledge, and expertise to launch new enterprises, contribute to Miami’s economy and community, and advance the prosperity of our nation.”
Ken Griffin, Founder And CEO Of Citadel
