University of Washington Receives $14 Million From Paul Allen

The University of Washington has received a $14 million gift from Paul G. Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp., to help build a new facility for the university's Department of Computer Science & Engineering.

The new building, which will be named the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering, is already under construction on UW's campus and is slated to open in the summer of 2003. Although the university's computer science and engineering program is consistently ranked among the top programs in the United States, it operates with less than half the space found at schools with comparable programs. When completed, the new facility will provide 75,000 square feet of space for computer science and engineering students and faculty and an additional 10,000 square feet of space for the Department of Electrical Engineering.

Sixty percent of the funding for the $72 million construction project is being raised from private donors, and the Allen gift brings total private support for the project to $37 million. Other major donors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft Corp., and several dozen individuals and organizations from the region's technology and venture capital communities.

"Bill [Gates] and I got a big part of our start in computer science at the University of Washington when we were still students at Lakeside School," said Allen. "UW Computer Science & Engineering is an engine of opportunity and we want to help make sure it's an even more cutting-edge resource for the coming generation."

“UW's New Computer Science Building Named for Paul G. Allen.” University of Washington Press Release 2/19/02.

Primary Subject: Science/Technology
Secondary Subject(s): Science/Technology
Location(s): Washington

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