The Mulva Family Foundation has made a $60 million pledge to support the business and engineering schools at the University of Texas, CBS News reported.
The Houston-based foundation's pledge, announced Friday, will help the university renovate the Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration buildings, and to build a new $310 million engineering research and education center, CBS News reported.
"Modern pedagogy, including the ways in which content is delivered and students learn, is rapidly evolving. These new and upgraded facilities are essential in our efforts to ensure that we maintain our leadership role in business education," Thomas W. Gilligan, dean of the McCombs School of Business, said in a statement. "The Mulvas' generous gift will contribute directly to the ever-increasing quality of our students and faculty and, therefore, to the reputation of our business school and university."
The Mulvas have a long history of supporting the university and is one of the school's "greatest supporters in its 131-year history and among Texas' top proponents of education," university officials said in a press release.
Jim Mulva earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Texas in 1968 and 1969.
"The University of Texas has been very important to our family. Accordingly, it is also important that we give back and assist in the growth and development of this premier institution," Mulva said in a statement.
Of the gift, $20 million will go toward the construction of the new engineering building, which will include the James J. and Miriam B. Mulva Conference Center and Auditorium when it is completed in 2017.
Another $40 million will be used to renovate the Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration buildings, upon consideration and approval of the University of Texas System Board of Regents. The buildings will collectively be renamed the James J. and Miriam B. Mulva Hall, according to a press release.
