Princeton University received a $100 million donation yesterday from Hong Kong architect and developer Gordon Wu, a 1958 Princeton graduate. The donation was given to commemorate Princeton's 250th anniversary in 1996, and will pay for initiatives to strengthen Princeton's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, according to a statement released by the school. The gift is the largest in Princeton's history, and among the top five largest donations to any school in the history of American higher education. In 1993, University Trustee Walter Annenberg broke national records with a $120 million donation to both Penn and the University of Southern California. And in 1994, the historian Sir Harold Acton gave New York University a package valued at $125 million. Acton's gift now ranks as the largest one ever. Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Virginia Clark said that while Wu's gift has no direct bearing on Penn, such donations have a positive effect on higher education in general. "I think it's great when anyone chooses to give such a significant amount of money to a school," she said. "The more gifts and donations that are given to institutions of higher education, the better off America is going to be." And Princeton administrators said they were ecstatic over Wu's generosity. "This is an absolutely extraordinary gift from an absolutely extraordinary man," Princeton President Harold Shapiro said in a statement. "It will dramatically strengthen our Engineering School and have a major impact on the overall quality of Princeton for years to come. For all the students, faculty, staff and alumni who will benefit from this gift, I want to express our deepest thanks." The donation consists of $65 million in cash -- to be paid between now and the year 2000 -- and $35 million in matching grants, according to a Princeton statement. Wu said as an undergraduate, he benefited from alumni contributions, and he views his gift as his repayment to Princeton. "The generosity of earlier generations of donors made it possible for me to attend Princeton as a young student from Hong Kong," he said in a statement. "I have always wanted to do all I could to assure that students in the future will have the same opportunities I had to learn at a university that remains second to none in its commitment to teaching." In the past, Wu has donated over $12 million in separate gifts, including endowments of professorships, classroom buildings and dining halls, according to the statement. Two of his four children also attended Princeton. According to a Princeton statement, the gift will go toward reengineering Princeton's science curriculum, constructing new laboratories and computer labs and endowing scholarships. Clark said the focus of Wu's gift is reminiscent of Penn Board of Trustees Chairperson Roy Vagelos's recent $10 million donation to construct the P. Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. "Institutions are very fortunate to have people like Harry Wu, Walter Annenberg, Roy Vagelos and Ronald Perelman," she said. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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