Rutgers Gets Historic $27 Million Gift

Rutgers University received the biggest gift in its history, $27 million from an anonymous donor, to establish 18 endowed chairs in subjects ranging from business education to the sciences.

The donation will be structured as a challenge grant, the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based university said today in a statement on its website. For every $1.5 million raised for a chair that meets the donor’s criteria, a matching gift will be provided.

“Endowed chairs provide permanent sources of funding for faculty positions, enabling the university to attract and retain internationally acclaimed leaders in high-priority academic fields,” Carol Herring, president of Rutgers University Foundation, said in the statement.

Including the anonymous gift, the university raised a record $137.4 million in private donations in the 2010-2011 academic year, the foundation said. Rutgers, founded in 1766, has more than 58,000 students.