The University of Texas at Austin has received a $50M grant from the Moody Foundation to establish the Moody College of Communications, which is the largest endowment received by any U.S. public college for the study of communications.

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The money to rename the Austin communications school is to be used to "increase the presence of the university on a national and international basis and improve the quality of its education by recruiting the best professors, the best administration and in turn having the best students coming out of the Moody College of Communication," said a statement from Ross Moody, UT Austin alum and foundation trustee.

UT Austin president Bill Powers called the grant a "transformative gift."

The Moody Foundation, which has $1B in assets, invests in Austin, Galveston and Dallas.

Founded in 1866, the foundation traces its financial growth from the development of American National Life Insurance Co.

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