A retired York University professor is donating $2.26 million to Alzheimer's and dementia care research.

Allan Carswell offered the gift in the name of his wife, Helen, who has been living with Alzheimer's disease for two decades.

Toronto's York University says $236,000 will back graduate research fellowships in dementia care, while $1 million will go towards establishing a research chair in dementia care in the faculty of health. The rest will be used to "evaluate programs by the Alzheimer Society of York Region, and for knowledge dissemination."

York University will contribute $1 million in matching funds for the chair.

Carswell is a professor emeritus of physics who was instrumental in developing Lidar systems, which use light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure distances. The technology is now used around the world in applications that include surveying and mapping cities, tactical surveillance and 3D imaging in outer space.