When SMU President R. Gerald Turner spoke to Annette Caldwell Simmons about the new building that would house the School of Education and Human Development, she had one request: a rose garden.

According to Simmons, Turner promised her a rose garden.

When the plans for the Annette Simmons Hall were unveiled at the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, Turner had kept his promise. According to Brad Cheves, vice president for development and external affairs, “rose gardens will be featured prominently.”

Construction is expected to finish in spring 2010. The building is mostly funded by a $20 million gift from Harold and Annette Simmons.

Ten million dollars will be used for the Annette Simmons Hall. The other half will be used to create two $5 million endowments: one to support graduate students and the other for recruiting faculty and deans for the school.

“We’ve had some great events this semester,” Turner said, noting the kickoff of the Second Century Campaign and the naming of the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. “Now we get to end the calendar year with this groundbreaking ceremony.”

Turner said the building will be a “place in which great teachers are honored,” and announced that each room in the new hall will be named after a teacher.

“Harold and Annette have given us a great blessing,” Turner said. “[They have] given us an opportunity to honor teachers in general.”

The building will house classrooms, offices, research laboratories and student support areas for the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development on the Dallas campus. The school also has programs on the Plano campus.

“It just seems like a moment ago and we were talking about a drawing,” Simmons said, saying that in just another moment, students will be walking through the doors. “What a great day that will be.”

Board of Trustees approve two new programs

Carl Sewell, chair of the Board of Trustees, announced at the ceremony the creation of two new academic programs for the School of Education.

The school will now offer a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physiology and Sport Management and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership.

“The generous gift of Mr. and Mrs. Simmons has given our School great impetus over the course of a year,” David J. Chard, dean of the school of education said in a press release. “I’m proud to say that we’ve been able to strengthen our academic programs in a swift and steady way.

“With this momentum, it is easy to envision how SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development will become a growing and significant presence in the lives of students and faculty, and the communities we serve.”