SYRACUSE -- The estate of an upstate New York couple is giving $50 million to LeMoyne College, the single largest donation in school history and one of the largest ever to a Jesuit-run school.

The gift is from the estate of Robert and Catherine McDevitt of Binghamton.

LeMoyne President Fred Pestello said the McDevitt gift will more than double LeMoyne's endowment. The money will be dedicated to the academic areas of computer science, information processing, physics and religious philosophy.

"The McDevitt Endowment is a transformational gift and one of the most significant events in our history," Pestello said.

The endowment will "enhance our standing in the national academic community, continue our momentum toward becoming one of the finest institutions of our kind in the country and ensure that LeMoyne remains an excellent value," he said.

Founded in 1946, LeMoyne has about 3,500 full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students.

The largest previous gift to the school was $5 million from John and Pidge James, both class of 1966.

Pestello said the McDevitts were long time supporters of LeMoyne and of Jesuit education in general.

McDevitt, owner of McDevitt Brothers Funeral Home in Binghamton, died Sept. 22, less than six months after the death of his wife. His mother was secretary to A. Ward Ford, founding president of IBM, and Robert McDevitt had accumulated company shares over many decades. The majority of the gift will be in IBM stock.

"The McDevitts were humble and lived a very frugal existence," Pestello said.

McDevitt's cousin, the late Rev. Edward L. McDevitt, helped establish LeMoyne's physics department when the college was founded in 1946.