$17.5-million new gift from Munk family to university aims to strengthen leadership in global affairs and public policy, raising Munk their donations to the school to over $66 million

The University of Toronto has received a transformative $17.5-million gift from Melanie Munk through the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation to strengthen the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and advance Canada’s role in addressing complex global challenges.

With this new benefaction, Melanie Munk’s combined giving through the foundation to the Munk School now exceeds $66 million, underscoring a longstanding commitment to global affairs leadership at U of T.

The benefaction, a key milestone in Defy Gravity: The Campaign for the University of Toronto, will support the recruitment of globally recognized economist Mark Duggan as director of the Munk School and create new funds for research and strategic initiatives. The gift further solidifies the school’s role as a world-leading hub for research, teaching, and dialogue on today’s most pressing geopolitical and policy issues.

“This incredibly generous new gift from the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation builds on a brilliant record of philanthropy supporting the University of Toronto’s leadership in global affairs and public policy,” said Melanie A. Woodin, president of the University of Toronto. “In this time of profound economic, social, and geopolitical change, Melanie’s commitment enables us to meet the moment as a beacon of knowledge, reason, and insight for Canada and for the world.”

The new donation builds on the foundation’s longstanding support, bringing its total giving to the Munk School to more than $66 million, including a landmark $35-million gift in 2010.

That earlier benefaction helped establish the Munk School as an academic powerhouse, fostering timely research, training future leaders, and hosting high-level dialogue among scholars, policy-makers, and public figures that has informed policy and public debate in Canada and beyond.

“The world is confronting an unparalleled period of geopolitical upheaval, with rising authoritarianism, strained alliances, and deepening polarization that threaten democracy and civil society,” said Melanie Munk.

“Our hope is that this gift will help the Munk School provide the informed, forward-looking policy leadership needed to navigate these challenges and strengthen Canada’s voice on the global stage.”

The gift will be matched by $7.5 million from the University of Toronto, ensuring strong and sustained leadership at the Munk School for years to come. In addition to endowing the directorship, the benefaction creates two key funds: the Munk Director’s Special Initiatives Fund, which will give the director the agility to pursue emerging opportunities and advance new initiatives, and the Munk Director’s Research Fund, which will support the director’s research program.

“The Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation’s visionary generosity will ensure that this bustling hub of learning, research, and civil discourse continues to rise to the major challenges of our time,” said Stephen Wright, interim dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “Professor Duggan will bring exceptional leadership and expertise to the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.”

Duggan, currently the Wayne and Jodi Cooperman Professor of Economics at Stanford University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, will begin his role as Munk Director next September, with a cross-appointment to U of T’s Department of Economics.

His research focuses on the health-care sector and the effects of large-scale government programs such as Social Security and disability insurance, and he has previously served as a senior economist for health care policy at the White House Council of Economic Advisers and has testified before the U.S. House Ways and Means and U.S. Senate Budget Committees.

“It is an enormous honor to take on the leadership of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy,” said Duggan. “I am grateful to Melanie and the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation for their generosity, which will help us make headway on some of the world’s most vexing geopolitical and policy challenges.”

The timing of this leadership investment is especially significant as the Munk School welcomes several new academic appointments from leading U.S. universities, building on recent high-profile additions such as Timothy Snyder, Marci Shore, and Jason Stanley.

This growing constellation of global scholars further strengthens the school’s capacity to tackle urgent issues, including democratic resilience, disinformation, international security, and economic inequality.

Beyond the University of Toronto, the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation has had a far-reaching impact on higher education, health care, and public policy, including galvanizing support for the University Health Network and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at Toronto General Hospital.

The new benefaction to the Munk School embodies the spirit of Defy Gravity: The Campaign for the University of Toronto by harnessing U of T’s strengths to confront some of the world’s most pressing dilemmas.

“The Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation has a legacy of translating passion into impact,” said David Palmer, vice-president, advancement at the University of Toronto.

“This generous gift, which builds on the foundation’s longstanding support for the Munk School, will usher in a new era of leadership in global affairs and stands as a powerful example of the pivotal role philanthropy can play in advancing institutional excellence during a time of great uncertainty and turbulence.”

The Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto is a leading centre for research, teaching, and public engagement on global affairs, public policy, and international governance. The school brings together scholars, students, and practitioners from around the world to address complex global challenges and inform effective, evidence-based public policy.

Defy Gravity: The Campaign for the University of Toronto is the most comprehensive in Canadian university history, aiming to raise $4 billion and inspire 225,000 alumni to contribute their time and talent one million times in support of students, research, and community impact.

Through philanthropic investments like the gift from Melanie Munk and the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation, the campaign is creating life-changing opportunities and advancing solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges.