Northwestern University gets $100 million gift from Buffett sister

By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - The sister of financial investor Warren Buffett has given Northwestern University more than $100 million, the largest single gift in the school's 164-year history, the university said on Wednesday. The gift from Roberta Buffett Elliott, who earned a degree in history from the university in 1954, will create the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Studies, the university said in a statement. "Bertie was convinced we couldn’t wait any longer to get this Institute under way and that Northwestern was its perfect home," said Northwestern President Morton Schapiro. “She is a truly visionary philanthropist, and we are honored to have her trust.” The institute will take a multi-disciplinary approach to global issues such as economic development in poor regions and immigration policies, Northwestern said. Elliott’s gift is part of the university’s $3.75 billion fundraising campaign, and increases her total giving to the school to approximately $110 million, Northwestern said. With her gift, the total amount raised for the campaign has surpassed $2 billion for the private university, which has campuses in Chicago and suburban Evanston, Illinois. The size of Elliott's gift is unusual, though not unprecedented. In the 2013-14 school year, 12 gifts to higher education institutions in the United States and Canada were $100 million or more, said Northwestern spokesman Alan Cubbage, citing The Chronicle of Higher Education. Elliott and Buffett will be present at a panel discussion at Northwestern on Wednesday afternoon on global issues. (This story has been refiled to correct paragraph 8 to say Buffett and Elliott will be present, not speaking) (Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Elvina Nawaguna and Doina Chiacu)