University of Arkansas alumnus John Ed Anthony and his wife, Isabel, are contributing $7.5 million to support the construction of a new $15 million materials innovation center in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. The center will have a primary focus on design innovation in timber and wood.
The couple’s gift counts toward Campaign Arkansas, the university’s $1.25 billion capital campaign, and will create the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation, subject to approval by the U of A Board of Trustees.
“The Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation will engage one of our state’s key industries and strengthen the relationship the University of Arkansas has with the southern half of our state,” said Chancellor Joe Steinmetz. “With the Anthony family’s generous gift and additional university support, this center will provide innovative opportunities and advance the use of natural materials in design.”
The Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation will be a center of excellence for innovation in wood design and product development to expand the use of wood in architectural design, construction techniques and product design.
The center will serve as home to the Fay Jones School’s planned graduate program in timber and wood and as an epicenter for its multiple timber and wood initiatives. The new applied research center will house the school’s existing design-build program and an expanded digital fabrication laboratory.
Read more on this from the Magnolia Reporter at https://www.magnoliareporter.com/education/colleges_universities/article_83e688f4-7072-11e8-894b-4bc4d8860c0d.html.