Ford Motor Co. donated $10 million Thursday for the construction of a new engineering design building, the second-to-last building to be constructed during Campaign Northwestern, University President Henry Bienen said.
The $10 million gift is the largest corporate contribution to Campaign NU. Earlier this year, Ford gave $3 million to establish the Ford Motor Company Center for Global Citizenship at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
“Ford Motor Company has been the single biggest corporate sponsor of this campaign,” Bienen said. “They’ve really been tremendously supportive of Northwestern.”
McCormick Dean John Birge said the proposed 63,000-square-foot facility will be four stories high and include classrooms built for collaborative projects and team learning. The center also will house McCormick’s computer science department and Kellogg’s Master of Management and Manufacturing program.
Administrators said the Ford building, which will be built on the green space directly south of the Technological Institute on Sheridan Road and Garrett Place, will be completed by the fall of 2004.
The announcement of the building, which will begin construction in the fall of 2002, came as part of Ford’s Engineering Week, a showcase of new technology and innovative creations of McCormick students.
Richard Parry-Jones, Ford’s group vice president for global product development and quality, said his company is “enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute” to NU and the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
“I’m not here to make a donation, I’m here to make an investment,” Parry-Jones said. “We know the return on our investment will be large. We are looking forward to a long, productive relationship.”
Bienen said Ford’s gift will enable the company to shape engineering education nationwide for years to come, while also giving them a strong chance of recruiting McCormick students for future jobs.
“When (a corporation) decides to support a university, they do it because they want to recruit at the university,” he said. “But they also do it because they believe in what the university is doing.”
Bienen said maintenance costs for the buildings already being constructed are higher than expected, forcing administrators to limit spending on new construction. Campaign NU’s total fund-raising effort has now reached about $1.1 billion of its $1.4 billion goal, Bienen said.
Birge said the idea for a new design building was originally proposed five years ago by the late Jerry Cohen, McCormick’s dean from 1986 to 1999. Birge said Cohen wanted a building that would “break the mold of traditional engineering education.”
“In the end, we will be able to create a stronger, more dynamic community as a result of this design center,” he said.
Birge said the center will help McCormick students because they can take classes in a more centrally-located facility. Some engineering and computer sciences are currently housed more than a mile away from campus at 1801 Maple Ave.
“Ford values our engineers very highly because they know how to work with a team environment,” Birge said. “Students will now have a better facility for practical training.”
Andrik Cardenas, a McCormick senior who accepted the donation on behalf of students, said it is a “benefit to have one big place where all aspects of design can be taught and practiced.”
“Ford and Northwestern are ensuring that the term ‘engineering excellence’ is not only a catch phrase, but a reality,” said Cardenas, who will work for Ford’s product development division next year. “The No. 1 auto company thinks the future lies here. They put their money where their mouth is, and it is a testament to NU that they chose us.”
