(JTA) — Princeton University is naming a new residential college after the father-daughter business duo Ronald and Debra Perelman.
The Perelman Family Foundation gave $65 million to the university for the college, which provides housing and dining for students, according to Bloomberg News. It will be the first residential college at Princeton named after a Jewish person.
Ronald Perelman, whose net worth of $9.1 billion makes him the 49th richest person in the world, according to Forbes, serves as chairman and CEO of MacAndrews & Forbes Inc. The New York-based holding company operates corporations including Valassis, RetailMeNot and Revlon, for which Debra Perelman serves as CEO.
He has donated to a variety of philanthropic causes, including universities, hospitals and cancer research. He also has donated to Jewish organizations, including the Hasidic Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement. In 1995, Perelman gave $4.5 million to Princeton to create a Judaic studies institute.
The new college will help Princeton achieve its goal of expanding its undergraduate student body and increase its diversity, according to a university statement.
“People of all backgrounds and communities deserve access to the extraordinary education and training offered by Princeton and all the wonderful opportunities afforded its graduates,” Ronald Perelman said in the statement.
Debra Perelman, who graduated from Princeton in 1996, said “Perelman College will ensure a more diverse array of young people have access to the Princeton experience.”
It will be the seventh residential college at the Ivy League school in southern New Jersey.
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