Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin is donating $3bn to Carnegie Mellon University to support its Pittsburgh operations and establish a new campus in Miami, in what the university and Griffin described as a major investment in higher education, according to a report by Reuters.

The gift will fund a range of initiatives, including academic recruitment, financial aid and the expansion of Carnegie Mellon's computer science programmes, while the majority of the money will go towards establishing the new Miami campus in the city's Wynwood neighbourhood.

Griffin, who relocated Citadel's headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022, said the donation represents his commitment to supporting innovation, technology and economic growth in the US.

About $1bn of the donation has been earmarked for Carnegie Mellon's computer science school and other priorities, including financial assistance for students. The school is set to be renamed the Kenneth C Griffin School of Computer Science.

The Miami campus is expected to focus on areas including human health and biodiversity, national security, energy and climate resilience, advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.

Graduate students are expected to begin studying at the new campus in 2028, with undergraduate programmes scheduled to follow in 2032.

Griffin, 57, will also join Carnegie Mellon's board of trustees. The board already includes hedge fund billionaire and university alumnus David Tepper.

The donation is the latest in a series of large philanthropic commitments by Griffin, who has supported education, science and medicine for years. His previous donations include $500m to Harvard University and $125m to the University of Chicago's economics department.

Griffin's philanthropic activity has also increasingly focused on Miami since Citadel moved its headquarters there. His contributions to initiatives in South Florida now total about $2.4bn, including funding for a charter school network, the University of Miami, Miami Dade College, public schools and maths tutoring programmes.

The Carnegie Mellon contribution brings Griffin's lifetime charitable giving to about $5.7bn, according to the figures cited in the report.