Stern alum's $20M gift to be used for faculty endowment, financial aid, building projects

A Stern alumnus donated $20 million to the Stern School of Business to help fund scholarships and renovations.

John Paulson, founder and chairman of New York-based hedge fund Paulson & Co., Inc., made the donation last Tuesday. Paulson, who was ranked 33 on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans in 2009, received a bachelor's degree in finance from Stern in 1978.

"My hope is that this gift will advance the school's mission as a global leader in business education and economic research as well as provide scholarships to gifted students with financial needs," Paulson said.

Of the grant money, $5 million will go toward endowing the Alan Greenspan Chair in Economics and the John A. Paulson Professor of Finance. Another $4 million will fund need-based scholarships for undergraduate students who will be called Paulson Scholars. The remainder of the donation, $11 million, will help fund the Concourse Project.

"The Concourse Project was created to renovate all the undergraduate classrooms at Stern," Stern dean of undergraduate studies Sally Blount said.

All of the money for the project is funded by donations; Paulson's gift funds a third of project's budget. Blount was thrilled when she learned about the donation.

"I danced," she said.

Stern dean Thomas Cooley said Paulson made the donation because he "deeply values education and his experience at Stern."

He added: "He wants to assure that others have the same opportunity to benefit from the high-quality educational experience at Stern."

Stern freshman Mary Tang said she appreciates that a portion of the donation will help fund tuition.

"Knowing how expensive NYU is in general, any type of financial aid will help," Tang said. "Rather than spending the money on something useless, he's helping kids get an education."

According to Blount, this is not the first time Paulson has contributed to Stern. Two years ago, Paulson donated $1 million for a classroom. Cooley said Paulson has in the past funded scholarships, endowed faculty chairs, and given money for campus renovations.

According to Blount, this gift is an outgrowth of a friendship between herself, Cooley and Paulson.

Clarissa Wei is a staff writer.