One of the world's top schools, Harvard University in the United States, has received its biggest donation ever, $350 million for its public health school.
The gift came Monday from the family foundation of real estate developers Gerald and Ronnie Chan of the Hong Kong-based Hang Lung Group.
Harvard said funds generated from investing the money will support students and faculty working to stop such pandemics as Ebola, malaria, cancer and other diseases, and address global health threats from war, poverty and environmental hazards.
Gerald Chan earned two degrees from the Harvard public health school in the 1970s. He recently has bought more than $100 million in real estate near the school, located outside Boston, Massachusetts in the northeastern part of the U.S.
As part of the gift, Harvard said it would rename the public health school in honor of the Chans' father, T.H. Chan, a Hong Kong real estate developer who died in 1986.
Harvard, founded in 1636, is the richest U.S. university, with an endowment of more than $32 billion.
