WACO, Texas, March 4 (UPI) -- Baylor University in Waco, Texas, announced Thursday that an anonymous alumnus has pledged a gift of $200 million, the largest ever to the school.
The university said the donor is from a family that has already provided gifts to be used to study aging, the American Baptist Press reported. Lee Nordt, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the new gift will move Baylor to "top-tier status" in research on aging.
Baylor announced in February that Kenneth Starr, the Whitewater prosecutor and now dean of the law school at Pepperdine, would become its president June 1. But officials said there is no connection between the gift and the controversial selection of Starr.
Diana Garland, dead of the Baylor School of Social Work, said the agreement for the gift was negotiated last fall. She said about half the money will go to the School of Social Work.
The gift is the second largest ever to a Texas university and among the 20 biggest made to a U.S. institution.
