Mansueto’s $35 million gift will create urban institute at U of C

A $35 million donation from alums Joe and Rika Mansueto will launch a new urban institute at the University of Chicago, the school announced Wednesday.

The Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation will “create new opportunities for urban scholarship and education with positive and lasting impact for cities around the world,” according to a statement issued by the school.

Joe Mansueto, founder and CEO of Morningstar, Inc., graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

“The Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation will bring together programs in the social, natural, and computational sciences and in the humanities to enhance the University’s strengths in urban scholarship and education. The institute will serve as an intellectual destination for urban scholars, students, policymakers and practitioners,” according to the university.

A search will begin immediately for a director of the institute, and a faculty steering committee will play a role in the search.

“An institute devoted to studying the broad set of questions related to urban issues, and drawing upon many unique strengths of the University, will help make UChicago the pre-eminent destination for the study of important urban issues,” Kerwin Charles, deputy dean of the Harris School of Public Policy, said in a statement issued by the school.

Joe Mansueto is an investor in Wrapports LLC, whose holdings include the Chicago Sun-Times.