Investment mogul Donald Marron has donated $40-million to New York University to support a center for the study of cities and their environs, Bloomberg writes.

The Marron Institute on Cities and the Urban Environment will sponsor fellowships, support research, and work with policy makers internationally to shape solutions to housing, environmental, and other issues facing cities as the world’s population shifts from rural to urban areas.

A longtime New York financial fixture, Mr. Marron founded private-equity firm Lightyear Capital after leaving Paine Webber.