(JTA) — Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has donated $100 million to Cornell University’s new campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City.

The donation, made through Bloomberg Philanthropies, will go toward construction of the Bloomberg Center, which will house graduate academic programs in the applied sciences, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. The goal of the center will be for students to launch companies or products.

Cornell broke ground on the building in a ceremony Tuesday. It is slated to open in 2017 and was dedicated in honor of Bloomberg’s daughters.

“New York City became the greatest city in the world because we dared to dream bigger than everyone else, and this project … is part of the tradition,” said Bloomberg, according to the Sun.

Bloomberg, who is Jewish, served as New York’s mayor from 2002 through 2013. He is the founder of Bloomberg L.P., a media and financial software company, and the 10th richest person in the United States, according to Forbes magazine.

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