The 91探花Business School announced this week the combined contributions of $20 million by members of its advisory board to help fund the construction of a new building to accommodate the near and long-term growth by the UW鈥檚 nationally ranked Business School. The advisory board is composed of both regional and national business executives.
91探花President Lee Huntsman praised the board members for their support.
鈥淭his is a wonderful expression of confidence in the future of our outstanding Business School,鈥� Huntsman said. 鈥淭hese patrons clearly see the importance of investing in business education 鈥� an investment that will help create the next generation of business leaders and return value to our regional economy. We are very grateful for these generous gifts.鈥�
The funds will help erect the University鈥檚 first academic building created entirely with private funds. Currently, the 91探花receives less than 4 percent in funding for new building construction from the state of Washington, making private support and contributions from alumni and friends more important than at any other time in the university鈥檚 142-year history.
鈥淭hese gifts represent a giant stride toward building a world-class facility,鈥� said Business School Dean Yash Gupta. 鈥淭hey will allow us to provide students with a superior learning experience, attract top faculty and business partners and strengthen Seattle鈥檚 reputation as a dynamic business center.鈥�
Today鈥檚 gifts bring the Business School closer to its goal of raising $100 million for a new facility. When completed, the new building will increase total space by nearly 50 percent, adding 52,000 square feet that will contain interactive lecture halls, wireless classrooms, computer labs, study areas and offices for faculty and staff. Additional major gifts to the 91探花Business School will be announced early next year.
Michael Garvey and Charles Lillis, members of the school鈥檚 advisory board, are prominent entrepreneurs who share a lengthy history of supporting the Business School through their time and resources and agree that private support is key to enhancing education.
They say they hope these lead gifts will help build momentum to realize the school鈥檚 long-term plan of becoming one of the world鈥檚 premier institutions for business education and encourage more individuals and companies to get involved. They say they are convinced that an investment in training tomorrow鈥檚 entrepreneurs and business leaders will return enormous dividends to the Pacific Northwest and the nation.