Carnegie Mellon University has announced that long-time trustee William S. Dietrich II has promised the university $265 million upon his passing. Dietrich is a political scientist, historian, industrialist and money manager.
University President Jared Cohon said Dietrich feels strongly that Carnegie Mellon will use his donation for great things. "His gift to us reflects his confidence in the university, his belief that what we do is important for the region and for the world, and his desire to invest in that," said Cohon.
The school will honor Dietrich's donation by renaming the College for Humanities and Social Sciences after his mother, Marianna Brown Dietrich. The gift, the largest in CMU's history, is almost five times the size of the University's previous largest, a $55 million contribution from David Tepper five years ago. It is one of the 10 largest ever by an individual to a private college or university in the nation.
Although the funds are not available until Dietrich's death, Cohon says the school will begin making plans with the money in mind. "In the case of humanties and social sciences, the college that we are naming for his mother, there will be some investments early on, even before we start seeing the money," said Cohon. "So there will be some of that, it will be modest at first, but over time it will build."
