The University of Virginia has announced a $10 million gift from alumnus Thomas A. Saunders III (MBA, '67), his wife, Jordan, and their daughter Calvert Saunders Moore, in support of endowed university professorships.

Awarded to the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, the gift will create the Thomas A. Saunders III Family Jefferson Scholars Foundation University Professorships, which will support up to two faculty who are prominent scholars in the fields of science and medicine. The Saunders' gift will be matched by UVA's Bicentennial Professors Fund, for a total investment of $20 million.

A former partner and senior managing director of Morgan Stanley, Saunders graduated from the Darden School of Business, is the CEO of Ivor & Co. LLC, and the Ivor Foundation.

"Faculty excellence at the University of Virginia has always been a high priority for our family," said Saunders. "For [more than] forty years, we have been committed to supporting education, and with the endowment of these university professorships, we advance the university's ability to attract and retain internationally recognized science professors to help ensure that the university continues to be one of the greatest educational institutions in the United States."