Ken Griffin gives $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon to launch Miami campus

Carnegie Mellon University said Wednesday that hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin is donating $3 billion to the school, a gift that will help launch a new campus in Miami and reinforce programs in Pittsburgh. The university called it the largest individual gift in higher education history, underscoring how aggressively schools are competing for major philanthropic support.

The donation is being split between the two campuses in different ways. Carnegie Mellon said $2 billion will support the new Miami campus, while $1 billion will go to its Pittsburgh campus, including $500 million for the School of Computer Science, which will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. Griffin will also join Carnegie Mellon’s Board of Trustees.

The move comes as higher education faces pressure to adapt to rapid changes in artificial intelligence, computing and workforce needs. In announcing the gift, Carnegie Mellon said the Miami campus will be built around societal challenges rather than traditional academic majors, with a focus on human health and biological discovery, national security and strategic capabilities, energy and climate resilience, and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.

A new campus in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood

Carnegie Mellon said the new campus, called Carnegie Mellon University Miami, will be located in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood on a 35-acre site. The university said it aims to begin enrolling students in 2028. The school described the campus as a new model for higher education, designed from the ground up to connect research, teaching and industry partnerships around large-scale problems.

Griffin, founder and chief executive of Citadel, has increasingly deepened his ties to South Florida in recent years. In a statement, he said bringing Carnegie Mellon to Miami would place the city at the center of humanistic and scientific advancement and expand the university’s international reach and impact. The university said his gift reflects confidence in its ability to attract talent, advance research and prepare graduates for consequential work.

Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian said the university has long responded to major technological shifts with new approaches to education and research. He said artificial intelligence is forcing universities to rethink how they teach students, conduct research and work with partners, and said the Miami project is meant to meet that moment.

The university also said it already has ties to Florida, including computer science outreach programs for middle school students in the state and a partnership with the Gates Foundation on AI-powered course materials at Miami Dade College. With the new campus, Carnegie Mellon is aiming to expand that presence in one of the country’s fastest-growing education and technology markets.