SMU’s School of Education will announce a $20 million donation from Dallas philanthropists Harold and Annette Simmons today at an 11:30 a.m. press conference.
Half of the gift will pay for a new building to house the school on campus. Right now various parts of the school are spread out over six different locations. The school needs $5 million more to cover constructions costs. SMU hopes to have the building opened by late 2009 or early 2010.
Officials will rename the school the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development for Simmons. Simmons was an elementary education graduate of SMU in 1957.
“I am pleased to support this innovative school at SMU, Annette’s alma mater, and to name it in her honor,” said Harold Simmons. “It will represent our shared commitment to support teachers likes the ones who made a difference in our own lives.”
The school offers graduate-level and specialized programs to develop skills for educators along with research programs on how students learn and develop language skills. Undergraduates can obtain their teacher certifications through the school.
In the human development part of the school, students can work toward Master’s degrees along with so-called enrichment courses that are taken for no credit.
The School of Education was created in 2005 and currently the school has about 900 students working toward degrees.
“As civic leaders who deeply value education as the foundation of human achievement, they will help us extend SMU’s leadership in education,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “This gift will be instrumental in further defining the scope and impact of these programs.”
The remaining $10 million of the gift will be split in half: $5 million for graduate fellowships and $5 million for faculty support and an endowed deanship.
The funds will provide at least 10 graduate fellowships for students in Master’s and Ph.D. programs.
David J. Chard, dean of the school, said that the gift is another sign that the school is serious about becoming a research institution.
“[The donation] will make us increasingly competitive for external research funding with national implications,” he said.
