Posted on January 21, 2013

Dyson Foundation Awards $2.5 Million to Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, has announced a $2.5 million gift from the Dyson Foundation in support of the university's new Center for Global Learning.

The center will serve as the cornerstone of a comprehensive program and physical focal point for a globalization initiative that draws students and faculty from across departments. Projected to cost $13.5 million, the facility will encompass 8,600 square feet in a renovated duPont Hall and an estimated 17,700 square feet in a new wing and will include classrooms, a seminar room, and instructional laboratories with state-of-the-art technology.

Christopher C. Dyson, who serves as treasurer of the Millbrook, New York-based foundation, is an alumnus of the university.

"The Center for Global Learning will combine architecture, technology, design, and programming in a global marketplace of ideas that will distinguish Washington and Lee among its peers," said Laurent Boetsch, the university's director of international education. "More than a destination, the center will be a campus hub and will, as W&L's window on the world, showcase interdisciplinary approaches to global learning as cross-cultural knowledge, encompassing both domestic and foreign issues. The transformation of duPont Hall into the Center for Global Learning is inspired primarily by the university's intention to integrate global learning into the education of all W&L students."