Michigan State University has announced a $26 million gift from philanthropist and MSU alumnus Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, for a new art museum on the East Lansing campus.

The museum, which will be named for the Broads, will be the new home of the university's art collection, currently housed on campus in the Kresge Art Museum. The Broad Art Museum will enable the university to increase the visibility and accessibility of art both for education and outreach, showcase more of the university's permanent collection, acquire and show larger, more significant works and exhibitions, and significantly add to the cultural and artistic heritage of MSU. "A great university needs a great museum, since the arts stimulate learning and creativity throughout the entire campus," said Eli Broad. "Speaking from personal experience, the arts have played a transformative role in my life, even though they were not the center of my studies at MSU."

The Broad gift, the largest individual cash gift in the university's history, includes $18.5 million for construction, with the remaining $7.5 million funding art acquisitions and endowments for exhibitions and operations. New acquisitions will concentrate on modern and contemporary works. MSU has raised an additional $6.5 million toward the construction project, including a $2 million gift from Edward and Julie Minskoff.

"Eli Broad's commitment to Michigan State University is extraordinary," said MSU President Lou Ann K. Simon, "and his generosity will have a lasting and transformational impact....He and Edythe are ensuring our students and faculty have the tools for learning and knowledge in the 21st century — a conception of multidisciplinary and global learning in which art and culture must play a part."