April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Yale University received a $50 million gift from John W. Jackson, the former chief executive officer of Celgene Corp., and his wife, Susan, to create an institute for international studies.

The donation will establish the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, scheduled to open next year, the university, in New Haven, Connecticut, said today in a statement. John Jackson graduated in 1967 from Yale College, the undergraduate school.

The Jackson Institute will start with four professors already at Yale and also recruit four “distinguished practitioners of international affairs,” such as former heads of state, according to the statement. The institute will offer classes to scholars in all of Yale’s divisions and counsel students interested in careers in diplomacy and with international agencies.

“This a giant step forward in terms of building out the curriculum, and it completes much of the work we’ve tried to accomplish in the last decade,” Yale President Richard Levin said in an interview today. “One of the things we’ve lacked is adequate faculty resources to offer enough courses to satisfy the enormous student demand.”

Under Levin, Yale has expanded its international scholarship. Since 2002, the school has hired former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of a Nobel-prize winning global- warming panel. The institute will be housed in the new Rosenkrantz Hall, a political science building that was completed this year, Levin said.

Political Science Major

John Jackson served as chairman and CEO of Celgene, a pharmaceutical company based in Summit, New Jersey, from 1996 to 2006. Jackson, 64, was a political science major who said he has lived in 10 countries.

“We’re very, very interested in America’s place in the world,” he said in a phone interview. He said he hopes the institute will help students find ways to make a difference in foreign relations.

“If we can inspire young people to service, that would be a fabulous thing,” Jackson said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Staley in New York at ostaley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 3, 2009 11:22 EDT