The University of Dayton has announced a $12.5 million gift from the Chicago-based George and Amanda Hanley Foundation to establish an institute focused on innovation in sustainability education.

The gift — the largest in the university's history — will support the creation of the Hanley Sustainability Institute and extend UD's current sustainability programs campus-wide through an integrated approach that prepares students for sustainability-related jobs and civic leadership on sustainability issues. Initial objectives of the institute include developing an interdisciplinary graduate certificate in sustainability; creating an urban agriculture demonstration project in Dayton; establishing Hanley Research Fellows and Hanley Scholars-in-Residence programs to support student and faculty research; and achieving a gold STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) designation from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The gift also will fund grants for curriculum development and research, community-based partnerships, and an innovation fund, among other initiatives. With the Hanleys' gift, the university will launch a comprehensive campaign to bring total funding for the institute to $25 million.

Longtime supporters of UD, George and Amanda Hanley have funded a number of educational initiatives as well as student scholarships in minority engineering and law at the university. George Hanley is best known for creating the Chicago-based Hanley Group, which was acquired by INTL FC Stone; for his leadership at the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile, now the CME Group; and for co-founding Level 5 Trading. A 1990 graduate of Northern Illinois University, Amanda Hanley serves on various environmental boards and blogs frequently about green issues.

"At many universities, sustainability education is focused solely on the environmental sciences," said Dayton University president Daniel J. Curran. "This gift will extend sustainability education across multiple disciplines, creating innovative learning opportunities for undergraduates and graduates, enhancing faculty and student research while expanding community and corporate partnerships and experiential education."