 In October 1890 , Andrew Carnegie became a Cornell Trustee and quickly became aware of the lack of an adequate pension plans for Cornell faculty . His concern led to the formation in 1905 of what is now called Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America ( TIAA ) . In October 2010 , David A. Atkinson and his wife Patricia donated $ 80 million to fund a sustainability center , and the gift is currently the largest single gift to Cornell ( ignoring inflation ) and is the largest ever given to a university for sustainability research and faculty support . 
