The Grainger Foundation has donated $100 million to the College of Engineering to support the Grainger Engineering Breakthroughs Initiative.

A portion of the gift will create an endowment for engineering chairs and professorships to attract and retain renowned scholars to help lead the College’s engineering research and education. An endowment will also be created to provide broad research support for high impact engineering research collaborations, according to a press release.

Other uses of the gift include providing money to launch a fundraising campaign for an endowment for scholarships for students in the College of Engineering and to provide a lead gift for the renovation of Everitt Laboratory.

“We are tremendously grateful for this extraordinary gift from The Grainger Foundation, which is an investment in the future of engineering, the future of our engineering faculty and students, and, indeed, an investment in the campus as a whole,” Chancellor Phyllis Wise said in a press release. “This transformative gift will ensure a chain reaction of possibilities that will fortify the campus as a preeminent, globally-recognized institution.” 

The contribution is made in honor of William W. Grainger, a 1919 graduate in Electrical Engineering who established The Grainger Foundation in 1949.