ORLANDO, Fla. — The former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has donated $40 million each to two state universities in Florida.
She also made a $30 million gift to Broward College, a community college in South Florida. Philanthropist Mackenzie Scott and her current husband, Dan Jewett, made the donations Tuesday to Florida International University in Miami and the University of Central Florida in Orlando without any restrictions on their use.
In the case of UCF, the $40 million gift was the largest in the school’s history.
"We are honored by Ms. Scott and Mr. Jewett’s trust and confidence in the University of Central Florida," UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright said in a statement. "Their transformational gift validates the work our faculty and staff do to foster student success and we are thankful these funds will enable us to increase our impact for generations of students.
"This unrestricted investment will accelerate our trajectory toward becoming the world’s leading public metropolitan research university and inspire others to invest in building a better future for our students and society."
The gifts were part of $2.7 billion in donations to 286 organizations Scott announced Tuesday.
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