Bloomberg's donations to alma mater top $1 billion

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has pledged $350 million to Johns Hopkins University, mainly to expand its interdisciplinary research on an array of issues including global health and urban revitalisation, as his lifetime giving to his alma mater eclipses $1 billion, reports Associated Press.

The university announced the commitment last weekend, saying it believes Bloomberg, who amassed his fortune creating the global financial services firm Bloomberg LP, is now the first person to give more than $1 billion to a single American university. The $350 million commitment is the largest ever to the Baltimore-based university, Johns Hopkins said in a statement.

Most of the latest gift, $250 million, will be part of a larger effort to raise $1 billion to foster cross-disciplinary work at Johns Hopkins, the statement said. The remaining $100 million is to be devoted to need-based financial aid for undergraduate students, with the intention being to award 2,600 Bloomberg scholarships in the next 10 years, it said.
Full report on the Huffington Post site