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Cornell University receives $80 million grant

By Lorne Fultonberg
October 28, 2010 - 6:30 pm
Class of '60 alum makes largest donation in school's history.

Four weeks after Syracuse University received a $20 million grant to build its scholarship program, Cornell University in Ithaca is getting a monumental donation of its own.  And this one is four times as much.

Cornell alum David Atkinson will donate $80 million for a research center to create more efficient and less harmful practices in a wide range of fields, according to the Post-Standard.  That's the largest gift the school has ever received.

The David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future will be a interdisciplinary collaboration--which Atkinson views as vital to making breakthroughs in each diverse field.  Atkinson has already contributed most of the funding to a three-year pilot program dedicated to sustainability projects.  That pilot program, started in 2007, has already drawn $56 million for its projects.

Atkinson, 72, is from New Jersey and graduated from Cornell's College of Agriculture in 1960.  Atkinson made his fortune on Wall Street and currently owns and manages his own investment firm.

Thumbnail and photo by matt.hinsa

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