Billionaire gives $125 million to U of Chicago economic department

Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

Ken Griffin, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Citadel, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, May 1, 2017.

Billionaire businessman Ken Griffin is donating $125 million to the University of Chicago’s Department of Economics.

The university announced Griffin’s gift Wednesday, saying it’s the second-largest in school history and brings his personal donations to the school to nearly $150 million.

The school’s economics department, which boasts being associated with 29 scholars who have received the Nobel Prize for economics, will now be known as the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics.

The school says the money will help the department expand faculty resources, provide student financial aid, and create a research incubator.

Griffin is founder and CEO of asset management company Citadel. He joined the university’s board of trustees in 2014. He says he’s proud to support a school that’s produced “pioneering research and path-breaking ideas.”