The $750 million research donation will go to examine the top environmental challenges facing humankind. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The California Institute of Technology received a substantial $750 million donation Thursday, to conduct cutting-edge research into the most important environmental challenges facing modern civilization -- the largest-ever single pledge ever given to a U.S. university for that purpose.

Entrepreneurs and philanthropists Stewart and Lynda Resnick made the donation. The money will be used to develop smart electricity infrastructure, identify effects of climate change and determine the best way to mitigate them.


"In order to comprehensively manage the climate crisis, we need breakthrough innovations, the kind that will only be possible through significant investment in university research," Stewart Resnick said in a statement. "Science and bold creativity must unite to address the most pressing challenges facing energy, water and sustainability."

Caltech said it will build a 75,000 square foot research facility, to be named the Resnick Sustainability Resource Center. The school said it will include ecology laboratories, biosphere engineering, translation science and engineering, a solar science and a water and environmental lab. It will also have a high-performance computing center.

The Resnicks founded The Wonderful Company, a corporate entity that owns several internationally known brands, including POM Wonderful and Fiji Water.

The pledge is the largest single donation ever given to a U.S. academic institution for environmental research, and the second-largest amount given for any purpose.

The Resnecks made a $30 million donation a decade ago at Caltech to establish the Resneck Sustainability Institute.

The donation was announced three days after the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations General Assembly.