Visionary Beginnings

Click above to view larger image

Robert Dammon, David Tepper, Subra Suresh

Carnegie Mellon University has announced a $67 million gift from the charitable foundation of CMU alumnus and renowned investor David A. Tepper to create an academic hub located on the Pittsburgh campus.

According to President Subra Suresh, "Our vision for the new David A. Tepper Quadrangle builds on CMU's strengths, creating new interdisciplinary interactions for learning and research and connecting innovation to the business community."

The gift, the largest from a CMU graduate and for a CMU building project, also will be the new home for CMU's Tepper School of Business.

"I'm excited by President Suresh's and the university's vision to make CMU the foremost entrepreneurial academic institution in the nation," Tepper said. "CMU has a long history of providing the world with innovative thinkers, and the establishment of a true hub for entrepreneurship will help create the next generation of global leaders. I'm particularly pleased to announce this gift on the day that CMU inaugurates President Suresh."

The founder of Appaloosa Management and a 1982 MBA graduate, Tepper is extending his support of CMU at a time when bridging the gulf between technology, business and the sciences is critical to solving some of the world's most challenging issues.

"David Tepper is a visionary, both as a businessman and a philanthropist, and we are grateful for his generous support of the university and the business school that bears his name," Suresh said. "Carnegie Mellon's culture is historically holistic, integrating research and learning among individual schools and academic disciplines."

Over the past decade, Tepper has committed more than $125 million in gifts to CMU, including donating $55 million to Carnegie Mellon University to rename the Graduate School of Industrial Administration. He serves on the university's Board of Trustees and as a member of the Business Board of Advisors for the Tepper School of Business.

"There are natural intersections between the business school and the research and teaching taking place at each of the seven schools and colleges at Carnegie Mellon," said Robert M. Dammon, dean of the Tepper School of Business. "The new home for the business school will enable us to enhance our undergraduate and graduate programs in business and economics, expand the possibilities for innovative research and interdisciplinary degrees, and allow us to offer a flexible technological framework that anticipates the needs of next-generation learning. The combined involvement of faculty, students, alumni and staff from across the CMU campus is a rare, powerful resource."

President Suresh's inauguration celebration has already been marked with a number of exciting developments at the university.

Earlier this week, CMU launched the Simon Initiative, a university-wide effort to accelerate the use of learning science and technology to improve student learning.

CMU also announced at LaunchCMU Wednesday that its award-winning faculty and students created 36 startup companies in 2013, a record for the university.

With his investiture, Suresh joins the ranks of strong leaders who have spearheaded Carnegie Mellon's growth since 1900. The ceremony will bring together members of the CMU community and delegates from universities around the world. Suresh will deliver his inaugural address, and Google Executive Chairman and former CMU Board of Trustee Member Dr. Eric Schmidt will deliver the keynote. Tony Award Winner and CFA alumna Patina Miller will provide a special performance.

Tickets are not required. The ceremony will be webcast on the inauguration website. Follow the conversation on Twitter with #CMUsuresh.

Photo by Karen Meyers.

Homepage Story Archives