Beverly Hills billionaire Kirk Kerkorian has transferred a $200 million fund created to assist Armenian earthquake victims to UCLA, where it will primarily support medical research and academic programs at the university.

The new Dream Fund, to be managed by the UCLA Foundation, will spend no less than 50 percent of its income at UCLA with the rest spent in Los Angeles and around the United States. The expectation is that other wealthy philanthropists will make similar gift to build the fund.

A committee of UCLA representatives and community leaders will solicit and vet applications, with an emphasis on organizations and programs that help address societal problems, the university said.

The assets are being transferred from the Lincy Foundation, established in 1989 by Kerkorian, an Armenian-American, in response to a devastating earthquake in Spitak, Armenia. The foundation, which has since expanded its original mission, has given more than $1.1 billion to schools, hospitals and Armenian charities. It will cease operations after the asset transfer.

“The UCLA Foundation and the entire UCLA community are grateful for a magnificent act of support by a private foundation,” UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement. “Mr. Kerkorian and The Lincy Foundation have a long history of major charitable giving, and the UCLA Foundation is honored to have been entrusted to continue their mission.”

The Business Journal last year ranked the 93-year-old Kerkorian as No. 2 on its annual list of Wealthiest Angelenos, with an estimated net worth of $6.3 billion.