Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Linfield College's New Science Facility Receives $10M Gift

  • 03/09/20

MCMINNVILLE, OR –The W.M. Keck Foundation has committed a substantial gift to support Linfield College's new science facility on the McMinnville Campus. The $10-million gift marks the largest single donation in Linfield's history. Once built, the facility will be known as the W.M. Keck Science Center.

The renovation and build-out of current and new facilities will create a state-of-the-art science center impacting all Linfield science departments.

"This new center will have a transformational impact on this college, and the W. M. Keck Foundation is pleased to be part of it. From the increased dedicated space for faculty-student collaborative research, to the enhanced interdisciplinary teaching and learning opportunities the project will provide, we know amazing work and learning will take place," says Linfield Trustee Lucinda Day Fournier '95, who is also vice president and a director of the W.M. Keck Foundation.

Construction on the facility is expected to begin in mid-2021.

"This project is critical to Linfield's distinctive science education, fostering new levels of student engagement and empowering cross-disciplinary, research-oriented STEM programs our graduates need to become career scientists, medical professionals, and responsible citizens and leaders," says Dr. Miles K. Davis, president of Linfield College. "Support from the W.M. Keck Foundation ensures Linfield remains relevant, excellent, true to itself, and able to produce graduates capable of succeeding in every endeavor."

The W.M. Keck Foundation has a history of significant gifts to Linfield. In 1998, the Foundation helped Linfield purchase the former Hewlett-Packard property and facilities that neighbored Linfield. With this, 17 acres of the property became known as the Keck Campus.

"This gift is an especially meaningful extension of the deep connections between the W.M. Keck Foundation and Linfield," says Robert Day, chair and chief executive officer of the W.M. Keck Foundation. "We are thrilled to partner with Linfield again to make a dramatic improvement in science facilities."

About Linfield College
Linfield College is a four-year independent college with campuses in McMinnville and Portland. Twenty-eight percent of Linfield students are first-generation college students, and more than one-third are U.S. students of color. The U.S. State Department has honored Linfield for being a top producer of Fulbright Scholars three years in a row.

About the W. M. Keck Foundation
The W. M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company. One of the nation's largest philanthropic organizations, the W. M. Keck Foundation supports outstanding science, engineering and medical research, and undergraduate education. The Foundation also maintains a program within Southern California to support arts and culture, education, health and community service projects and programs.

Featured

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.