The University of Illinois has received a pledge for $100-million to kick-start its six-year, $2.25-billion capital campaign, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The donor, Thomas M. Siebel, a software entrepreneur, graduated with three degrees from the university’s Urbana-Champaign campus.

The money will be used to found the Thomas M. Siebel Fund for Excellence, which will pay for endowed chairs and graduate fellowships in bioengineering, stem-cell research, and low-carbon, alternative-energy research. Mr. Siebel had previously donated $32-million to construct a computer-science building on campus, among other gifts.

The announcement came two days after the University of Chicago announced its own $100-million gift from an anonymous donor.

An article from the Urbana-Champaign News-Gazette provides further details about the gift.

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