St. Thomas University (STU) has received a $1.1 million gift from alumnus John Dooner Jr., who graduated from the school in 1970.

STU will be putting the money toward the new Gus A. Machado College of Business building, which is located on the university's Miami Gardens campus.

“Words cannot express how grateful I, and the entire St. Thomas University community, feel today,” university President David Armstrong said in a release issued on the STU website. “We are truly blessed to have John Dooner as an alumnus. His generosity, dedication, and contributions to STU are unparalleled. This transformational gift allows STU to provide a state-of-the-art facility for our Machado College of Business students; and will help us retain current students and recruit even more future students; as the university continues to grow enrollment, increase program quality and further improve our academic reputation.”

Dooner currently serves as STU's Board of Trustees chairman and the chairman emeritus of McCann Worldgroup, an agency he created in 1997. His agency is a fast-growing marketing organization, which has allowed him to make the largest alumni donation in the university's history.

“St. Thomas University provided me with the academic, spiritual and ethical foundation that led to my success in business,” Dooner said in the release. “Given everything that is happening in the world today, I believe strongly that Catholic higher education and St. Thomas University are needed now more than ever to produce ethical leaders. I am blessed to be in a position to give back to my alma mater and am happy to do so. I know that the leadership at St. Thomas will be good stewards of this gift, and that it will have a lasting impact on the university and its students.”