SOUL OF A CITY

Financier Marron to Give $40M to NYU

To open urban development research center.

Financier Donald Marron has turned his eye to something new: urban development. The founder of the private-equity firm Lightyear Capital and former CEO of PaineWebber, Marron is donating $40 million to NYU to launch the Marron Institute on Cities and Urban Environment, he announced on Wednesday. NYU President John Sexton said Marron, a university trustee, came up with the idea during an expansion meeting—and Marron said, “This isn’t just a matter of applied science, it’s a matter of social science, it’s a matter of humanities and the soul of a city.” Richard Revesz, the outgoing dean of NYU School of Law, began searching for how many NYU professors were doing work related to cities—and the faculty quickly grew. Revesz will lead the new institute.