A private foundation in suburban Chicago has pledged $100 million to the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Chancellor Phyllis Wise announced the gift on Monday from The Grainger Foundation of Lake Forest. The contribution is made in honor of William Grainger, who graduated from the university in 1919 and founded W.W. Grainger, Inc. The school says a substantial portion of the money will create an endowment to attract top-notch professors and scholars.

Other money will be used to help pay for renovations to a laboratory building at the school's engineering campus.