The university said Wednesday the gift will be used in part to recruit and retain top students and faculty and enhance research facilities and equipment.
The donor wishes to remain anonymous.
Former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was charged Nov. 5 with sex abuse. He has pleaded not guilty.
Senior Vice President Rodney Kirsch says the resulting scandal didn't faze the donor since the school first got word of a possible gift in early November. He says donations from that point have been "running pretty much even" with last year.
Penn St trustee hopes to have findings by mid-May
A Penn State trustee heading the board's inquiry into child sex abuse allegations against a retired assistant football coach says he hopes the probe will be finished by the end of the academic year.
Kenneth Frazier leads the trustees committee that appointed former FBI director Louis Freeh to handle the internal investigation into the criminal charges against Jerry Sandusky. While Frazier said Freeh will have as much time as he wants, he added, "I would hope that it would be done by the end of the academic year," The Star-Ledger newspaper of Newark, N.J., reported Wednesday.
Frazier, the chairman and president of pharmaceuticals giant Merck & Co. Inc., spoke Tuesday at a talk for business leaders in New York hosted by The Wall Street Journal. Representatives for Freeh and the trustees committee could not immediately be reached by The Associated Press for comment Wednesday.
Freeh was tapped by trustees to lead the investigation on Nov. 21, more than two weeks after Sandusky was charged.
Sandusky, 67, faces dozens of criminal counts for what a grand jury called a series of sexual assaults and abuse of 10 boys dating back to the 1990s in hotel swimming pools, in the basement of his home in State College, where the university is based, and in the locker room showers at Penn State, where he coached football until his retirement in 1999.
Sandusky waived his preliminary hearing on Tuesday, pleading not guilty and requesting a jury trial. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but says he never molested them. His wife has said he's innocent of the child sex abuse allegations against him, and his lawyer has said his accusers are just trying to cash in by making up stories.
Frazier said the trustees told Freeh he has "free rein to do the right kind of investigation."
But the trustees' investigation - along with the trustees themselves - have still drawn criticism. Among the most vocal critics are some members of the Penn State University Faculty Senate wary of Freeh's independence and fearful that trustees may cover up findings.
The trustees' investigative committee also includes a member of the Faculty Senate. President Rodney Erickson has said he would ask the trustees to provide more updates to the faculty.
Besides the trustees' probe and ongoing criminal investigation, Penn State also faces an investigation by the Department of Education. The NCAA has also set a Dec. 16 deadline for the university to respond to its own letter of inquiry, though the school isn't expected to provide complete answers because of the volume of investigations under way.
Penn St grad to take over VP job amid sex scandal
Penn State has settled on a replacement for an administrator who left his job after being charged with lying to a grand jury investigating child sex abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
David Gray will take over as senior vice president for finance and business starting in February, pending approval next month by university trustees.
Gray is a Penn State graduate. He returns to his alma mater after working at the University of Massachusetts.
Penn State was in the midst of its search when interim vice president Gary Schultz returned to retirement after being charged last month with perjury and failing to report to police a 2002 allegation against Sandusky.
Schultz and Sandusky have maintained their innocence. Schultz is next due in court Friday in Harrisburg.
