MIAMI (WSVN) - Hedge fund manager and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin opened up about his $2 billion investment toward Carnegie Mellon University’s future Miami campus.
Speaking alongside CMU President Farnam Jahanian on Wednesday, Griffin highlighted the impact that colleges and universities can have in American life.
“Great American cities are anchored by great institutions of higher education,” said Griffin.
His donation is part of a larger $3 billion gift to the western Pennsylvania-based university.
“This is the largest investment in the history of higher education. It is an investment in a university that stands for excellence,” Griffin said. “Carnegie Mellon leads the country in computer science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and has a world-renowned program in robotics.”
The 35-acre campus is projected to bring in around 4,000 students and up to 1,000 faculty and staff members, along with cutting-edge technology in AI. It will be located at the site of Mana in Wynwood, along Northwest Fifth Avenue and 22nd Lane.
Longtime Wynwood architect Kobi Karp said the move to a formerly industrial area reaffirms that Miami is the place to be.
“You have good quality of life. You can study whatever it is that you like. The campus is the hole in the doughnut of Miami,” Karp said. “It used to be an industrial shipping/handling area, and now it has become the place everyone wants to go.”
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the future of Miami is going to change due to the institution’s reputation in technology.
“We are now going to have our own Carnegie Mellon, right in a formerly industrial area, one that has become an art haven and one that is really attracting world attention,” Levine Cava said. “We already have the art and the culture, and we are going to have the innovation and the technology, thanks to the presence of this major, major new academic facility in our community.”
A news conference was held in Wynwood Thursday morning to officially announce CMU Miami. The event featured Griffin and Jahanian alongside local officials, including Levine Cava and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Jahanian spoke about the impact CMU Miami will have on the city.
“Today would not be possible without the generosity of Ken Griffin, who has committed the largest gift in the history of higher education to bring Carnegie Mellon University to this amazing city,” Jahanian said. “Miami is a city with the ambition to create something new and the entrepreneurial energy to build it. This culture and the momentum built by the people of Miami will be the true firepower behind this endeavor.”
Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with enrollment possible by as early as 2028.
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