Ann Lurie, widow of real estate and investment magnet Robert Lurie, is giving $40 million to Northwestern University in Chicago to help build a medical research center, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Construction on the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center will begin later this year. When complete, the 12-story facility will house more than 700 scientists and support staff who will research everything from genetics and molecular medicine to cancer, neurosciences and bioengineering, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The $200 million project also received $30 million from Illinois Gov. George Ryan. The center will be adjacent to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and connected via sky bridges, which will also link it to other buildings on the university campus, the newspaper reports.

Robert Lurie and partner Sam Zell invested in Ford City Shopping Center and were part owners of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and the Chicago White Sox baseball team, the Sun-Times reports.

Robert died of cancer in 1990 at the age of 48.

Fifty-four-year-old Ann Lurie -- a member of Northwestern's board of trustees -- also donated nearly $20 million to the organization's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

She and Zell recently gave $10 million to the University of Michigan's business school, where her husband earned a master's degree.

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