University of California, San Francisco’s Memory and Aging Center and at Trinity College Dublin, in Ireland will partner to research and cure dementia. Atlantic Philanthropies made one of their largest donations to date, a cool $177 million. Hit the jump to find out who signed the check and why.

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Charles F. Feeney, 83-years old, authorized Atlantic Philanthropies to make the donation. Very generously, Feeney donated about 99% of his money to worthy causes. He is worth about $6.3 billion. He called the donation a “big bet.”

Feeney, who made his money in the duty-free business, believes wholeheartedly in UCSan Francisco. So far he donated more than $400 million to the school. He holds the record for donors.

WSJ said, “According to the World Health Organization, there are 47.5 million people with dementia, with 7.7 million new cases each year.” If and when this grant of sorts effectively cures the disease, aging populations worldwide will surely invest in the solution.

Source: WSJ