Investor to donate $75M to Johns Hopkins philosophy program

A wealthy investor who credits his success to studying philosophy in college has given $75 million to the philosophy department at Johns Hopkins University.

Johns Hopkins announced the donation from William "Bill" Miller III in a news release Tuesday. The university says it's believed to be by far the largest ever to a university philosophy program. It's also the largest to Johns Hopkins for any humanities department.

The university says the gift will help the department increase its full-time faculty and create endowed faculty positions and endowed support for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

The 67-year-old Miller enrolled in a doctoral philosophy program at Johns Hopkins before leaving to pursue a career in investment management. In a statement, he says he credits much of his business success to philosophy studies.