BATON ROUGE – Shell has donated $27.5 million to LSU to establish the Institute for Energy and help pay for construction of the Our Lady of the Lake Interdisciplinary Science Building.

The donation is the largest from a for-profit company in the university’s history.

Twenty-five-million dollars will go toward the LSU Institute for Energy Innovation, while $2.5 million will go toward the science building.

"With Shell’s investment as founding partner, the new Institute for Energy Innovation will advance reliable, affordable, environmentally responsible energy for all through a just and equity-driven pathway," LSU said in a statement.

"The energy produced and refined along the state’s working coast provides crucial energy for the United States today," Shell USA President Gretchen Watkins said. "In partnership with LSU, we can build on this legacy of oil and gas prosperity while further developing lower-carbon energies and technologies to progress Louisiana’s energy future."