Carnegie Mellon University and Seton Hill University, both in Pittsburgh, have announced gifts of $30 million and $7 million, respectively, from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

The $30 million gift to Carnegie Mellon — the largest from a private foundation in the university's history — will be used to expand the university's efforts in the areas of energy research, education, and innovation, and will support construction of Sherman and Joyce Bowie Scott Hall, the eventual home of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, which was launched in 2012.

"Carnegie Mellon's work in the energy sector is distinct because it combines technology with policy-focused research," said M. Granger Morgan, the institute's director and head of the CMU Department of Engineering and Public Policy. "This approach allows us to create strategies that provide incentives to the private energy sector to advance reliable solutions with a minimal impact on the environment."

The $7 million gift to Seton Hill University — the largest ever to the university — will help fund construction of a new health sciences center, one component of a $75 million campus expansion and renewal plan. The 52,000-square-foot building will feature a geothermal system that is expected to reduce the school's energy consumption by at least 50 percent and a curved three-story glass kiva that uses the sun as a source of heat and natural light. To date, funding for the project also includes $1.5 million from the Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation, $750,000 from an anonymous donor, and $3 million from trustees, alumni, and supporters. Seton Hill has experienced a more than 50 percent increase in health sciences enrollment over the last four years.

"The Health Sciences Center will meet growing demand for our core programs of excellence — particularly in pre-med, physician assistant, biology, chemistry, dietetics, and nutrition," said Seton Hill University president JoAnne Boyle. "This gift, along with those from the [McKenna] Foundation and others will help us meet that demand."