Carnegie Mellon announces $3 billion gift and plans for a new Miami campus

Carnegie Mellon University announced on September 30, 2026 a $3 billion gift from Ken Griffin, founder and chief executive of the investment firm Citadel. The gift supports the university's Pittsburgh campus and funds a new campus, Carnegie Mellon University Miami. The university described it as the largest gift by an individual in the history of higher education.

Of the total, $1 billion goes to the Pittsburgh campus, divided equally between flexible support for university priorities and a $500 million investment in the School of Computer Science, which will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. The remaining $2 billion will launch CMU Miami on more than 35 acres in the city's Wynwood neighborhood. When complete, the campus is planned to serve more than 3,500 undergraduate, master's and doctoral students, with nearly 300 faculty and over 600 staff. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, and the first students are expected to enroll in 2028, pending regulatory approvals.

CMU said the Miami campus will organize teaching and research around societal challenges rather than academic majors, starting with human health and biological discovery, national security, energy and climate resilience, and advanced manufacturing. Plans include space for industry research labs and venture studios. Founded in 1900, Carnegie Mellon also has campuses in Qatar and Rwanda. Griffin will join the university's board of trustees.