CHICAGO (CBS) — DePaul University says an alumnus and his wife have donated $10 milllion from their estate to the university — the largest single gift in the school’s 113-year history.

The money will support student scholarships and a professorship at DePaul’s College of Commerce, a release from DePaul said. The donors, a retired graduate of the college and his wife, wish to remain anonymous.

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“This gift is going to change the lives of countless students and help DePaul meet our commitment to recruiting the very best faculty to teach them,” said the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, president of DePaul. “We could not be more grateful to this generous couple for what they are doing for the many generations that follow them.”

The anonymous couple’s gift helps the university move closer to raising $250 million by 2014, the goal of its “Many Dreams, One Mission” fundraising campaign.

More than 25,000 donors have given a total of $215.3 million since the campaign was launched in 2007, the university said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)