LOS ANGELES, June 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation has set the pace of fundraising for LMU’s new Engineering Innovation Complex (EIC), a planned capital expansion for the LMU Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering, with a $25 million matching gift. The gift is the largest capital gift in university history, as well as the largest gift from a living donor.
“The LMU of today would not be possible without the Leavey family’s enduring partnership,” said LMU President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D. “Indeed, the Leaveys are in our DNA. Throughout the decades, LMU has flourished, thanks to their continued generosity and support. Shaping the future requires a rigorous commitment to anticipating and addressing the yet-to-be-known, the seemingly impossible. This is more than a gift; this is a testament to our shared values and bold vision for igniting a brighter world.”
View President Snyder’s video announcement.
With best-in-class facilities for research, learning, and discovery, the EIC will expand the university’s leadership in STEM education, helping to accelerate new technologies and scientific advances. The Leavey Foundation’s gift will match new commitments to the EIC from donors on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to $25 million. In recognition of their generosity, a key portion of the complex will be named the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey STEM Center and will provide essential classrooms, laboratories, offices, and community spaces designed to inspire interdisciplinary exploration in STEM for faculty and staff.
“This is an inspiring gift from a family who has been a partner to LMU for more than 80 years,” said Peter Wilch, senior vice president for University Advancement. Wilch emphasized that Leavey Foundation founder Thomas E. Leavey was a member of the Marymount College Regents and the family’s involvement continued with two LMU Board of Trustee members, foundation Trustee Kathleen McCarthy Kostlan for more than 30 years, and foundation Trustee Kathleen Duncan, currently serving her second term. “The family’s unwavering commitment to the university, exemplified today by this generous matching challenge from the foundation, positions us for greater strides in STEM innovation for generations to come. We are incredibly grateful to the family for their longstanding support and important step forward for Seaver College.”
The EIC will be an innovation hub where multi-disciplinary teams within the university will work together on a scale greater than previously possible on campus. In addition to housing classes in engineering, computer science, physics, and health care systems engineering, the facility will support interdisciplinary research programs that are a hallmark of integrative scholarship. Collaborative spaces for learning, research, advanced maker spaces, teaching laboratories, and community spaces will enable Seaver College students and faculty to work with others dedicated to innovation in STEM both within and beyond the university, particularly among LMU’s neighbor institutions along Southern California’s technology corridor.
“The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation is happy to support LMU’s longstanding leadership in making STEM education accessible to a broad range of students,” said Duncan, trustee of the foundation and a member of the LMU Board of Trustees. “As the world faces ever more complex challenges, we look to STEM innovation to find creative, sustainable solutions. It is our hope that this matching grant will inspire waves of giving that will enable LMU to reach its campaign goals for this transformational capital project.”
Spanning across two buildings, the EIC will use modern architectural touchstones that build for the future with a focus on flexibility and sustainability. A module-based layout will provide the flexibility to reconfigure teaching and research spaces to respond to both changing needs and opportunities for specialized hubs that address key areas for investigation.
“The EIC will open exciting new avenues of collaboration and experimentation for our students and faculty, helping to spur important achievements in STEM,” said Tina Choe, dean of Seaver College. “As we work toward making the new complex a reality, I am both grateful and inspired to have the support of visionary donors like the Leavey Foundation who are deeply aligned with our mission and share in our vision for the future.”
SOURCE Loyola Marymount University
