"You're talking about a major, major project," Meinig said. "All universities today are operating under significant financial constraints. The fact that Chuck Feeney and Atlantic Philanthropies were willing to commit $350 million to this project gave us the ability to be very aggressive in the competition."

Atlantic Philanthropies said in an e-mail that Feeney wasn't available for an interview.

Cornell, partnering with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, beat out six competing bids from schools including Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University. Stanford pulled out of the contest Dec. 16, hours before Cornell announced Feeney's gift as an anonymous donation. Feeney was revealed to be the donor Dec. 19.

Cornell plans to begin classes next year in leased space until the Roosevelt Island campus is completed. Cornell said it will move by 2017 and finish construction of more than 1.3 million square feet by 2027. By 2043, the campus will have 2,500 students and 280 faculty members, according to the university and the mayor's office.

$1.5 Billion Construction

The project will cost about $1.5 billion, Cornell President David Skorton said at a Dec. 19 press conference. The university doesn't plan on borrowing to finance the project and instead will rely on tuition and philanthropy, technology license fees and corporate partnerships, he said.

Feeney, the son of a nurse and insurance underwriter, grew up in a neighborhood on the western edge of Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to a 2007 biography written by Conor O'Clery, The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune. He knew how to squeeze money out of work, and as a teenage golf caddy, sought out nine-hole players who paid the same tip of 25 cents as those using the full 18-hole course, according to the book.

Feeney owns neither a house nor a car, and takes a salary from the foundation that "covers his needs," O'Clery said in a telephone interview. Feeney recently stopped flying coach, switching to business class after his charity's board insisted because of health concerns, O'Clery said.

"He's still shopping for the cheapest tickets, you can be sure of that," O'Clery said.

Net Worth

While Forbes magazine in 1988 listed Feeney as the 23rd richest person in the world with assets of about $1.3 billion, the ranking was wrong, O'Clery said. Feeney had already signed over businesses to his philanthropy at a secret meeting in the Bahamas in 1984, according to O'Clery. The assets included spas in Thailand, retail stores in Hawaii and France, and property in the U.K.