Tata Consultancy Services announced Aug. 25 it was gifting $35 million to Carnegie Mellon University, marking a new era of partnerships between known leaders in industry and academia. The global IT services company’s gift will be used to fund a new facility, the Tata Consultancy Services Building.
The 40,000 square-foot stand-alone facility will support education and cutting-edge research conducted by CMU students and faculty. It will include collaborative spaces for the CMU community, as well as for TCS staff. It is the largest corporate gift given to CMU.
“Whether you’re running a university or a global company, you want to find the best and the brightest people to do cutting-edge things,” said CMU president Subra Suresh in a statement. The Indian American president said TCS is a household name in India and many other countries, and soon college students in the U.S. will be familiar with the TCS name as well.
In addition to its on-campus benefits, the gift will endow presidential fellows and scholarships. TCS – known for its grassroots campaign encouraging STEM studies – will help CMU undergraduate and graduate students with the knowledge they need for future careers.
“With our shared commitment to education and research in areas that help address many challenges of our time, TCS’ support of Carnegie Mellon is both natural and extraordinarily promising,” Suresh added. “Together, our two organizations have the capabilities to make breakthrough discoveries and the capacity to make a societal impact on a global scale.”
As of late, there has been an influx in major technology companies moving into the Pittsburgh region. TCS joins a group of more than 350 companies partnering with CMU as the Mumbai-based company joins an ecosystem of entrepreneurship supported by the university. Welcoming TCS to the state was Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.
“This is an exciting time as we see more and more companies establish and expand their presence in the state,” Wolf said in a statement. “Carnegie Mellon has been especially adept in attracting cutting-edge businesses to and near its campus, which helps to drive economic growth.”
CMU, which since 2008 has seen students and alumni create 215 new companies, is ranked first of all U.S. research universities in startups per research dollar, according to the Association of University Technology Managers.
“CMU is known for the best in education and research in machine learning, robotics, driverless cars, statistics, information management and other disciplines, and how these technologies can impact businesses,” said TCS managing director and CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran. “As global leaders, Carnegie Mellon and TCS have the intellectual power, creativity, institutional nimbleness and global reach to capitalize on new opportunities and have a lasting impact on society and industry through cutting-edge digital research and a long-term commitment to education.”
The new facility will be located just west of the university’s major new academic hub, the David A. Tepper Quadrangle, along Pittsburgh’s new Forbes Avenue corridor, which work has already begun. The new additions will result in the largest campus expansion since Andrew Carnegie founded the university in 1900.
