DeSantis, Ken Griffin speak in Wynwood about Carnegie Mellon's new Miami campus
Gov. Ron DeSantis, Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin and Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian appeared in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood this Thursday to unveil the university's plans for a new 35-acre campus backed by Griffin's historic $3 billion gift.
The three delivered remarks Thursday morning at event venue Unlocked Wynwood, one day after Carnegie Mellon announced the expansion.
The university said $2 billion of Griffin's gift will support the launch of Carnegie Mellon University Miami, while $1 billion will go toward Carnegie Mellon's Pittsburgh campus. In a press release issued Wednesday, the university called it the largest individual gift in the history of higher education.
Carnegie Mellon University's Wynwood campus
The proposed Wynwood campus would eventually serve more than 3,500 undergraduate, master's and doctoral students, along with nearly 300 faculty members and more than 600 staff members, Jahanian said in a letter on Wednesday.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with graduate students expected to begin enrolling in 2028, pending regulatory approvals. The first undergraduate class is currently planned for 2032.
Unlike a traditional university organized primarily around academic majors, Carnegie Mellon said its Miami campus in Wynwood will structure education and research around "major societal challenges." Initial areas of focus will include human health and biological discovery, national security, energy and climate resilience, and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.
The university also plans to include industry research laboratories and venture studios where students, faculty members and outside partners can work together. Carnegie Mellon said its strengths in artificial intelligence, computer science, robotics and other technologies will underpin the new academic model.
$1 billion land purchase in Miami's Wynwood
The development includes a $1.1 billion purchase of several Wynwood land parcels from developer Moishe Mana. Mana told CBS News Miami that the transaction had been in the works for years and described the university's arrival as a continuation of Wynwood's transformation from a warehouse district into a center for art, culture and development.
Griffin has said Miami's immigrant communities and the city's entrepreneurial culture were among the factors that made it attractive for the university's expansion.
"It's a city of people who came to America looking for a brighter future," Griffin said. "Think about, for example, the large Cuban immigrant population in Miami — committed to their families, committed to education, and who yearn for their children to live the American dream."
Gov. Ron DeSantis said the focus on technology and national security is an asset not only for Florida, but for the nation.
"This is really the tip of the spear on what technology can do to make lives better for people, to build an economic base and ultimately help with the defense of our country," he said.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava personally thanked Griffin for his investment, which will enable Carnegie Mellon to build a Miami campus.
"Carnegie Mellon choosing us here is also a powerful vote of confidence in our people, in our economy and everything that we are building together," she said.
Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins said the city is already preparing to rezone parts of Wynwood to allow for an educational facility to be built, adding, "This is transformational for the city".