Carnegie Mellon University Will Open a Second Campus in Miami

PHOTO FROM PITTSBURGH MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

Carnegie Mellon University has long been at the forefront of pedagogy and innovation. Now, a historic gift will allow the college to push the bar even higher. 

Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, one of the most successful alternative investment firms in the world, gave $3 billion to the university, officials announced on Sept. 30. The historic gift marks the largest individual gift in higher education history and will “further elevate CMU in Pittsburgh and launch Carnegie Mellon University Miami, a new campus designed to pioneer a model for higher education built for the next era of American innovation,” according to a press release.

CMU Miami will invert the traditional higher education model by organizing learning and inquiry around societal challenges rather than academic majors. It will be entirely designed and built — from first blueprints to final beam — to drive revolutionary breakthroughs that address society’s defining challenges, officials say.

At launch, CMU Miami will focus on grand challenge areas spanning human health and biological discovery; national security and strategic capabilities; energy and climate resilience; and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation. The campus will also serve as a platform for curricular innovation, new approaches to teaching and hands-on learning.

“We are deeply grateful to Ken Griffin for his extraordinary vision, partnership and belief in what Carnegie Mellon can achieve,” CMU president Farnam Jahanian says in a statement. “Throughout our history, CMU has anticipated moments of profound technological change and responded with new ways of thinking and solving problems. Together, we have an opportunity to extend the very qualities that have long distinguished Carnegie Mellon — our agility, creativity, interdisciplinary culture and relentless focus on impact — to build a new model for higher education that meets the urgency of this moment.”

Officials add that CMU Miami is designed to move beyond the traditional hub-and-spoke model of university expansion. Rather than simply extending individual programs or research activities into a new city, CMU Miami will develop into a comprehensive university campus where education and research are equally central to the mission, “built to the same standards of academic excellence that define CMU.”

Once complete, the state-of-the-art campus will support more than 3,500 undergraduate, master’s and PhD students, nearly 300 faculty and over 600 staff members. Construction is slated to begin in 2027. The current plan, pending regulatory approvals, sees the first students enrolling in 2028.

“The opportunity to bring Carnegie Mellon to Miami places our city at the heart of humanistic and scientific advancement and amplifies the University’s international reach and impact. It is a tremendous privilege to be part of this historic moment,” Griffin says in a statement. “CMU Miami represents a generational opportunity to build a new center of research and intellectual life — one that will attract exceptional students, scholars, and researchers from across the globe and rank among the world’s most important academic institutions.” 

He adds that the new campus will build “upon the university’s record of excellence in educating and inspiring the next generation.” 

Located on more than 35 acres in Wynwood — in the heart of Miami — the campus will support a comprehensive student experience and an interdisciplinary environment designed for learning, research and collaboration, officials say. Plans include space for industry research labs and venture studios, creating opportunities for students, faculty, industry and community partners to work alongside one another. The campus itself will serve as “a living laboratory for new ideas, while creating opportunities for collaboration across CMU’s locations,” reads the press release.

Griffin’s $3 billion gift will also consist of $1 billion to support CMU’s Pittsburgh campus, split evenly between flexible support for the university’s highest priorities and a $500 million investment in its top-ranked School of Computer Science, which will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. 

“Carnegie Mellon University has made profound contributions to America’s preeminence in science, engineering, technology, and the arts and humanities,” Griffin says. “Since its founding, Carnegie Mellon has fostered remarkable talent, pioneered scientific breakthroughs, and expanded the frontiers of research — shaping global leaders and innovators.”