Ann Arbor, Mich. — Investor and philanthropist Charles T. Munger, University of Michigan graduate and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., gives gift of $110 million for new graduate housing.
Ann Arbor, Mich. — Philanthropist Charles T. Munger has pledged a $110 million gift of securities to the University of Michigan to be used to build new graduate housing, which according to the university would be a community where graduate students from multiple disciplines can live and exchange ideas.
The gift includes $10 million for fellowships to help create a residential society that encourages scholarship and interaction from many fields of study. The U-M Board of Regents approved the project and related fellowship program at a meeting on April 18.
The gift is the largest single donation to the university in its 196-year history. The residence will be named in honor of Munger, a U-M alumnus and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
The proposed building will house more than 600 students in a high-density, residential-academic arrangement. Most apartments in this new community will contain seven individual bed/study rooms, each with a private bath, a large shared kitchen and common furnished dining and living areas with large windows. Some apartments will have three or six bedrooms.
In an effort to encourage lively discussion and other interaction within and across disciplines, the entire eighth floor will feature many comfortable gathering spaces, a fitness center with a running track, a commissary that carries high-quality basic provisions at low prices, a “Fellows’ Room” and a panoramic view of the campus and downtown Ann Arbor, according to the university. Some of the apartments will be used by visiting faculty.
The approximately 370,000-square-foot, eight-story building will be located on Central Campus on the north side of East Madison Street between South Division and Thompson streets. The anticipated opening date is fall 2015. Out of the total, $100 million of the gift will go toward the new facility, which will cost about $185 million. The rest will be funded by lease revenue.