Alums’ gift would create unique school at Virginia Tech

Virginia Business
May 2006

If the state says yes, Virginia Tech will become the first university in America to open a school of construction. The college’s board of visitors has already approved plans to create the school in Blacksburg

The State Council of Higher Education is expected to vote on the proposal this month. If it approves, Tech plans to have the school up and running by next year. It would offer undergraduate and graduate degrees that complement existing programs in building construction and civil engineering.

The proposal for a new construction school is the result of a $10 million gift from two Tech alumni and former fraternity brothers, who are in the construction industry. John R. Lawson II, president and CEO of W. M. Jordan Co. of Newport News, and A. Ross Myers, CEO of American Infrastructure in Worcester, Pa., pledged the money last fall. “Ross and I have a chance to create something that’s unique and that addresses something that has been lacking in our industry,” says Lawson. “We think this new school will create the truly well-rounded student: someone with business and entrepreneurial skills and with the technical aspects of the traditional degrees that construction companies usually require.”