NYU Marron Institute For Cities And Urban Environment Launched

Thanks to a generous $40 million donation provided by entrepreneur and philanthropist Donald Marron, New York University has started a new institute dedicated to urban city development and sustainability.

The Marron Institute will be lead by current Dean of NYU Law School Richard Revesz, who will be stepping down from his dean position in May.

Marron is the Chairman of Lightyear Capital and a lifelong New Yorker. The center will focus on policies and initiatives aimed at creating more livable cities for their residents.

On Wednesday, Revesz was joined on campus by University President John Sexton and Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the official announcement. He said:

Don Marron has given a tremendous amount to make his hometown a better place, so it’s fitting that this institute – which I know will do a tremendous amount to build a strong future not only for New York but for all the world’s cities – should bear his name. Making sure that cities remain centers of innovation and learning is key to our future.

Bloomberg himself is quite familiar with generous endowment contributions, as he recently pledged $350 million to his alma mater Johns Hopkins University.

The donation pushed his lifetime giving to the university over the $1 billion mark, making him the country's largest living donor to a university ever.