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Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University announced a $35 million donation from India-based IT company Tata Consulting Services. It is the largest gift the university has received as well as the largest gift donated to an American university from another country.
The donation, according to Philanthropy News Digest, will go towards the construction of a new facility, to be named the Tata Consulting Services building, to support research done by the staff and students of the university. The donation will also endow the Presidential Fellowships and Scholarships, increasing access to a CMU education for outstanding students.
Tata Consulting Services is one of the largest companies of its kind in the world today with widespread global representation, though the company is based in India. “TCS, which has been at the forefront of national and grassroots campaigns to encourage science, technology, engineering and math education, will help equip Carnegie Mellon undergraduate and graduate students with the knowledge they need for future careers,” says the university.
Other tech companies like TCS are moving towards the Pittsburgh area, many of which have forged partnerships with Carnegie Mellon in an attempt to broaden the reach of its education. Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf says that the companies’ moves to his neck of the woods is great news for Pennsylvania’s industry and economy, calling it an “exciting time as we see more and more companies establish and expand their presence in the state. Carnegie Mellon has been especially adept in attracting cutting-edge businesses to and near its campus, which helps to drive economic growth.”
More and more charities and people are choosing education as their philanthropic cause of choice, be they public, private, or higher institutions. Donations to schools hit an all-time high last year with Harvard University having received $1.16 billion and Stanford sitting at a comfortable $929 million.