SMU Breaks Ground On $140M Business School Expansion/Renovation

SMU celebrated the groundbreaking May 6 for a $140 million renovation and expansion of the Cox School of Business.

The project is expected to take about two years to complete, will expand the school’s footprint by more than 30%, and connect existing facilities with four new buildings.

“This project will add to the Cox School’s stellar national reputation and will enable it to continue attracting outstanding students, faculty and industry partners,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Since 75 percent of our Cox School graduates stay in Texas, this ambitious project is a commitment to SMU’s role as a talent magnet for the state and the North Texas region.

The completed facilities will be called the David B. Miller Business Quadrangle, in honor of the co-founder of a private equity company and former Mustang basketball standout.

Miller, his wife Carolyn, and the David B. Miller Family Foundation made a $50 million commitment to SMU in October 2019 – half of which was earmarked for the Cox School project. It’s among the largest alumni gifts in the history of the university.

As we previously reported, Cenergistic CEO William Spears recently made the largest gift by a non-alumnus in the history of SMU to the Cox School of Business.

(READ: CEO Hopes To Foster Entrepreneurship With Gift To SMU)

Various donors contributed more than $100 million toward the new facilities at the Cox school. The complete list is available here. For more information, visit SMU’s website.

“We are retooling the Cox School to create a more collaborative environment – to give students and faculty easier access to collaborate, to gather and share ideas and gain inspiration from one another,” said Cox School Dean Matthew B. Myers. “We will offer students more opportunity to obtain their business education in a ‘9 to 9’ environment, meaning they’ll come to classes, stay for lunch or dinner, work together with other students and their professors, and remain connected with and at Cox all day long. In short, our improved facilities will nurture an environment that will lead to a richer learning experience and a lifetime of connections. This really marks a new era for the Cox School.”