President Matthew J. Wilson announced on Thursday the pending receipt of the largest gift in The University of Akron’s history and one of the largest gifts received in public higher education in 2017, the press release for the gift said.

The gift was for more than $20 million from the estate of Jean Hower Taber, the press release said.

The press release said that most of the gift, about two-thirds, will go to scholarships for honors students and students in audiology. The rest will go to maintenance for the University’s Hower House, the Hower family mansion that offers exhibits and programs to the public.

According to the press release, Taber was not a graduate of the University, but her grandfather was a graduate of Buchtel College.

Taber has been a generous benefactor to the University, the press release said. Kim Cole, the University’s vice president of development and executive director of the UA Foundation said in the press release, “Jean Hower Taber provided gifts to the University of more than $7.7 million during her lifetime.”

“It’s amazing how many dreams of a college education this tremendous gift will help make possible,” President Wilson said in the press release. The gift will have an immeasurable impact on dozens of lives each year, President Wilson said.