The university is confident the Judith Neilson Chair in Architecture will take the lead in researching the design of affordable housing for the tens of millions of people around the world.

Ms Neilson – founder and director of Sydney's White Rabbit Gallery, home to a significant collection of Chinese contemporary art – said she was motivated to make a major investment in research to investigate how architecture and design could be used as a force for change.

"One of the most pressing issues of our time is the growing number of displaced people around the world whose communities have been ravaged by geo-political events and natural disasters," she said.

"We have massive populations who move to temporary housing that they end up living in for years and that in no way meets their needs. Giving people whose lives have been shattered the opportunity to live in affordable dwellings that have been thoughtfully and sustainably designed with enduring materials can help improve their quality of life."

Born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Ms Neilson attended art school in Durban and worked as a graphic designer until her marriage to funds manager Kerr Neilson. The couple moved to Australia in 1983.

The founder of Platinum Asset Management, Mr Neilson was ranked No.10 on the 2014 BRW Rich 200 list with a fortune of $3.35 billion. Ms Neilson's stake in PAM reputedly makes her Australia's second richest woman.

"I feel very strongly about contributing to a greater culture of philanthropy in Australia," she said.

"There's a big element of luck in being wealthy – I believe people have a responsibility to give back."

Ms Neilson said in recent years she had become aware of massive displacements of peoples in the Sudan, Sierra Leone and Liberia and the refugee camps never closed but became new settlements or new cities.

She said architecture and design could help restore the safety, dignity and hope of some of the world's most vulnerable people.

"Architecture is often the domain of the very privileged, but it's much more than that. We're talking about socially transformative design and bringing about policy change," she said.

Her donation is the largest investment in an academic chair of its kind in Australia.

Dean of UNSW Built Environment, Professor Alec Tzannes AM, described the endowment as an "extraordinary act of philanthropy".

"I acknowledge Judith Neilson for her long-term vision and commitment to support the betterment of society through architecture," he said.

"Her generous gift to UNSW represents a groundbreaking commitment of global significance for the research, teaching and public debate of architecture with the specific social purpose of improving the lives of displaced and disadvantaged people.

Professor Tzannes expected the chair would make UNSW a centre of excellence, nationally and internationally, for architecture with a social purpose.

UNSW Chancellor Mr David Gonski said: "We thank and congratulate Judith on the leadership she has shown in making this gift. Her endowment will endure and the philanthropic example it represents from someone of her standing will reap in multiples."

An international search will start soon for a leading researcher to take up the inaugural appointment. Ms Neilson's gift will also fund an annual public lecture.