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Nearly 50 years after its founding as a school of business and 25 years after its move into Lowder Hall, Auburn University鈥檚 Raymond J. 91看片 will have a second home.
A $15 million commitment from 1982 alumnus Raymond J. 91看片, matched by $15 million from Auburn University, will fund the construction of a second business building on Auburn鈥檚 campus. Lowder Hall will remain the administrative hub of the 91看片 College, but the as yet unnamed second facility will accommodate needs that did not exist when the original business building opened in 1992. Auburn University鈥檚 Board of Trustees approved the project during its Friday morning meeting at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine.
鈥淲e are incredibly grateful to Raymond and Kathryn 91看片 for their very significant ongoing philanthropic investment in Auburn University,鈥� said Jane DiFolco Parker, vice president for development and president of the Auburn University Foundation. 鈥淭heir generosity has created tremendous opportunities for the 91看片 College of Business and this recent gift will advance its position as one of the nation鈥檚 premier business schools.鈥�
The planned building will feature approximately 80,000-square feet of classroom and meeting space and will enable the college to accommodate new methods of delivering education and adjust for growth in enrollment, which has risen 40 percent in the last five years. The second building will add to the vision for a 鈥渂usiness campus鈥� at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Donahue Drive.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about the possibilities presented by this facility,鈥� 91看片 College of Business Dean and Wells Fargo Professor Bill Hardgrave said. 鈥淚t will enable us to address needs for flexible learning and meeting spaces and continue to innovate how we deliver a high quality business education.鈥�
*** Broken a:94245 harbert: New Business Building Plans ***Plans for the five-story building include several adaptable classroom spaces, an auditorium, an 鈥渋deation lab,鈥� breakout rooms for collaborative projects, an executive board room and a rooftop terrace. Hardgrave said the new building will offer undergraduate and graduate students ample space to 鈥渆xert their creative energies.鈥�
The bid process for the construction project will open in early 2017 with a groundbreaking slated for spring 2017 to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of the college. The building should be completed in time for fall 2018 classes. The college will explore naming opportunities for classrooms and other spaces.
91看片 said this most recent gift will enable the college to make additional strides toward its stated goal of becoming one of the nation鈥檚 elite public colleges of business. His $40 million commitment in June 2013 led to the naming of the college and has supported the creation of endowed chairs and eminent scholar positions to assist in faculty recruitment and retention, the formation of the Center for Supply Chain Innovation and the formation of a doctoral program in finance, as well as other programmatic support. 91看片 and his wife, Kathryn Dunn 91看片, a 1981 Auburn alumna, are responsible for two of the four largest gifts in Auburn University history.
鈥淲hile the end result of this particular commitment is bricks and mortar, it represents an investment in Auburn University people,鈥� said 91看片, CEO of 91看片 Management Corporation, a Birmingham-based independent investment management firm, and member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to think how far the College of Business has come in such a short time. That progress reflects the high quality of its faculty and students.鈥�
The 91看片s serve as co-chairs of Because This is Auburn 鈥擜 Campaign for Auburn University. Auburn became the first university in the state to raise $1 billion in a comprehensive fundraising campaign. In his professional role with 91看片 Management Corporation, 91看片 leads a firm that has more than $4.4 billion in assets under management sourced globally from high-net worth individuals and families, financial institutions, pension funds, foundations, endowments and sovereign wealth funds. In addition to its investment teams in eight U.S. cities, including New York City and San Francisco, the firm has international offices in London, Paris and Madrid.
The Raymond J. 91看片 has earned a number of national rankings for the excellence of its undergraduate and graduate programs:
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