ROCHESTER - An investment banker is giving $30 million to the University of Rochester, the largest single donation in the school's 158-year history.

Edmund Hajim, 72, a 1958 chemical engineering graduate, said Friday his gift will go to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Hajim has been an investment banker since the 1960s and served on his alma mater's board of trustees for 20 years, becoming its chairman in May.

The private school's previous biggest gifts were $26 million from Charles Hutchison in 1976, two separate donations of $17 million from Kodak founder George Eastman and $14 million from businessman Thomas Golisano in 2002.

Hajim asked that the donation go toward scholarships for students with significant financial needs and support the school's endowment, which stands at $1.7 billion.

A native of Los Angeles, Hajim moved to New York City after World War II, served three years as a naval officer and attended the school on a navy scholarship.

“I can still see that letter and it was 54 years ago. I just looked up at the sky and said, 'Oh my God,”' he said in a telephone interview. “It was very hard for me to go to college, I couldn't afford it, and this changed my life.

“Education is almost a magic word for me. It allows America to be what it is, a place where a person can begin with nothing and in one generation achieve almost anything.”

Hajim worked for a chemicals company in Delaware, then moved into investment management after earning an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1964.

He held senior posts at the Capital Group, E.F. Hutton and Lehman Brothers and went to become chairman and chief executive of Furman Selz. He started his own investment partnership in 2002 and plans to close it down at year-end.

AP-ES-10-17-08 1652EDT