Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Bill Gates Dedicates Cornell University's New Gates Hall

  • 10/06/14

ITHACA, NY — Bill Gates visited Cornell University on October 1 to dedicate the university’s new Computing and Information Science (CIS) building and help celebrate 50 years of computer science at the institution.

Bill & Melinda Gates Hall is designed to help foster Cornell faculty research collaboration and to strengthen students’ educational experience by bringing together two CIS academic departments — Computer Science and Information Science — in one facility. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated $25 million toward the $60 million total cost of the project.

Cornell University President David J. Skorton and Cornell CIS Dean Haym Hirsh joined Bill Gates in a ceremony to officially open the new building.

President Skorton calls the building “a stunning addition to the Cornell campus” and says it will “facilitate collaboration and the free exchange of ideas, and inspire our students, faculty and staff through elegant design and state-of-the-art sustainability.”

Cornell CIS Dean Haym Hirsh says, “Cornell University has helped shape the face of computing for 50 years, since the creation of our Computer Science department. Through the generosity of the Gates Foundation and our other donors, Gates Hall will help us continue to be a world-leader in computing and information science — and an education and research model in the information economy — for the next 50 years and beyond.”

Designed by award-winning architect Thom Mayne and the Morphosis architecture firm, Gates Hall features human-computer interaction, networking and systems, robotics, vision and graphics and artificial intelligence labs; a 150-seat lecture hall; distance-collaboration technology; and space for faculty, researchers, graduate students and support services. Ninety-five percent of the building has natural light, and LEED Gold certification is pending. Construction on the 101,455 gross-square-foot facility began in 2012, and it was completed earlier this year.

About Cornell CIS
Cornell Computing and Information Science (cis.cornell.edu) was established in 1999 to respond to the educational and scientific challenges of the information age. Composed of the Computer Science, Information Science and Statistical Science departments, this college-level unit’s mission is to integrate computing and information science into every academic field. Cornell CIS programs reach thousands of Cornell students across multiple colleges.

Featured

  • Arizona District Breaks Ground on Community Training, Learning Center

    The Tolleson Union High School District (TUHSD) in Tolleson, Ariz., recently broke ground on a new Training & Learning Center (TLC) for both district professionals and the community at large, according to a news release. The 90,000-square-foot facility has an estimated completion date of spring 2027.

  • nursing students talk while studying in a hallway

    Elsevier Launches VR Simulation Solution for Nursing Students

    Elsevier has introduced Shadow Health Lab with Virtual Reality, a simulation platform that allows nursing students to interact with virtual patients and build clinical judgment skills in a safe, realistic environment.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.