The person who made an anonymous $350 million donation to Cornell University for an applied sciences campus in the city has been identified.

Billionaire philanthropist and Cornell alumnus Charles Feeney granted the money to the upstate university.

Feeney made his fortune by building duty free airport shops before anybody had even heard of duty free shops.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday announced that Cornell and Israel's Technion Institute won the city's competition to build the campus on Roosevelt Island.

The mayor says the plan was chosen because of the its scale and the schools' reputations for science breakthroughs and entrepreneurship.

"It promises to create a beehive of innovation and discovery, attracting the kind of technical talent that will spawn new companies and new jobs, and propel our city's economy to new frontiers," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at an Upper East Side press conference announcing the venture.

"This is not the moment for a touchdown dance for Cornell or for Technion," said David Skorton of Cornell University. "This is a time for a touchdown dance for New York City."

Estimates say the campus project will create thousands of jobs and 600 new companies over the next 30 years.