Robert Morris University today announced the $1 million donation from Alba Tull and First Light Capital Group to the university to launch the RMU Century Initiatives and Innovation Fund, in celebration of the university’s 100th year anniversary.

The RMU Century Initiatives and Innovation Fund provides resources to launch and reboot programs critical to positioning the university for success as it enters its second century. RMU was founded on September 21, 1921 and today kicks- a year of centennial celebrations as well as the university’s annual Day of Giving with the goal of getting 1,000 donors to contribute to the fund before midnight.

“Thanks to the generosity of donors such as Alba Tull, Robert Morris can be ready for what’s next – what’s next in higher education, what’s next in entrepreneurship and innovation, what’s next in the Pittsburgh region and beyond,” said RMU President Chris Howard. “RMU is positioned to be the most agile professional career-focused university in the nation.”

Alba Tull is the founder of First Light Capital, a women-led investment firm that employs a proprietary technology-informed investment process and predictive analytics to trade public equities, private equities and debt. The firm, through a separate fund, also seeds female entrepreneurs with cutting-edge ideas predominately in the technology and pharmaceutical industries and provides them with the tools and support they need to be successful.

“Advancing education and supporting young minds as they embark on their professional journey is of utmost importance,” said Alba Tull, founder of First Light Capital. “We are proud to support the RMU community and help bring innovative programming to the campus on their 100th anniversary.”

Examples of programs to be funded by the RMU Century Initiatives include:

• An insurance agency run by students in the university’s Actuarial Science and business programs that would provide alumni with auto, life, long-term care, and Medicare insurance;
• Supporting students who are veterans and service members as they pursue a college degree and seek to advance their civilian or military careers;
• Expanding the RMU Gateway program – a dual-enrollment, dual-admissions partnership with four western Pennsylvania community colleges – to include community colleges throughout the state; and
• Establish the RMU Center for Innovation and Outreach and the Massey Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as the premier providers of entrepreneurship education in the Pittsburgh region, including at the K-12 level.

Robert Morris University was founded in 1921 as the Pittsburgh School of Accountancy, becoming the Robert Morris School of Business in 1935. Later, it became a junior college, then a four-year college, then, in 2002, a university. In 1962, the school purchased the Oliver Kaufmann estate in Moon Township, which today is home to its 230-acre campus.