University President Jared Cohon announced a $20 million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in a special news conference today. The donation will help fund the construction of a new building, dedicated to expanding computer science, which will be named the Gates Center for Computer Science. The donation is the largest from a foundation in the University's history. The School of Computer Science has not been renamed.

The Gates Foundation focuses on improving equity in global health and learning. Since its founding in 2000, the Foundation has donated more than $4.5 billion to that cause.

"This is a great day for this University. This is a transformation day," said Cohon. "This gift carries tremendous meaning for this institution."

Cohon expects the Gates donation to inspire other donors.

Randy Bryant, dean of the school of computer science, said, "This gift will allow us to fulfill one of our most critical needs: space."

The center, likely to be built on the site of the Old Student Center, will be 150,000 square feet in size and five stories tall, two of which will be underground. The University also expects to create pedestrian-friendly green space around the building from Forbes Avenue to Newell Simon Hall. The maze of parking lots currently in the area will be replaced by underground parking at the Gates Center.

The Center will include two 100-seat lecture halls, four 50-seat classrooms, and a 250-seat auditorium. Total costs will likely exceed $50 million. The Center is expected to open three years after groundbreaking, though no date has yet been set.

Student opinion over the new Center was mixed.

"I'm disappointed [Carnegie Mellon] sold out," says Michael Coblenz, a senior in SCS. "They paid just enough to get their name on the building for advertising." Coblenz is not a supporter of Microsoft or its business practices.

Irina Khaimoich, a freshman in MCS, disagrees. "I don't hold a grudge against [Gates] putting his name on the building… it will give the school wider appeal to potential students because [Gates'] name is so popular."

Gates visited Carnegie Mellon in February as part of a lecture series entitled Software Breakthroughs: Solving the Toughest Problems in Computer Science (Bill Gates gives lecture at Carnegie Mellon). "There's a new dimension coming with global competition," he said. "It will be an interesting challenge in terms of the United States renewing its edge."

Gates also said that humility, commitment to research, and problem solving in America will continue to attract and retain the best talent to the country, and that both universities and the private sector must step in to promote more research.  This Center will allow for Carnegie Mellon to increase research in computer science through the new laboratory facilities and research office space.

Cohon said the only limitation to sponsored research in computer science at Carnegie Mellon is the lack of space.

"We at Carnegie Mellon believe the biggest developments in Computer Science are still ahead of us," said Sunjil Wadhwani, a University Trustee.

Wadhwani believed the donation implied recognition from Gates that Carnegie Mellon can more effectively use resources than any other research university. He added that Carnegie Mellon is a leader in computer simulation, modeling, artificial intelligence, and computer security.

"Every university feels tension between research and teaching. I think we do a good job in a general manner, but especially in the school of computer science, research and teaching," said Cohon.

The donation only provides funds for building construction. It will not create new faculty positions. When asked whether the building would allow for students outside SCS to enroll in computer science courses more easily, Cohon said that the Gates Center would have some larger classrooms, but did not know whether professors would enlarge their courses given this extra space. He also mentioned that some courses have limited enrollment to provide better teaching, regardless of classroom size.

Applications to SCS have dropped by one third since 2001. Overall applications across the country have also been down.

"Gates wanted the field of Computer Science to get a jolt," said Cohon.

Gates has also donated money for the creation of computer science centers at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and Cambridge University.

Bryant said the school will shift some of its resources out of Wean Hall after the Gates Center is built. The new space will offer more locations for students to work in group projects and allow more undergraduates to work with graduate students and faculty members on research projects.

The gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does not require Carnegie Mellon to use Microsoft products. Also, the Foundation is independent of Microsoft Corporation.

"We have never felt obligated to use Microsoft over Linux or Unix products when we think [Linux and Unix] products are better," said Bryant.

Kevin Litwack, a senior in SCS, agrees. "The Gates Foundation is not Microsoft, and [the donation] is not to make everyone use Microsoft."

He views the donation as an asset to the undergraduate CS community, stating that the new addition will attract great professors and increase exposure to potential students. Litwack anticipates that more facilities will open to undergrads that were previously only open to researchers and graduate students.

Microsoft is the largest employer of Carnegie Mellon computer science graduates, hiring 10 graduates in 2004 and 25 in 2003. Rick Rashid, senior vice president of Microsoft Research, was a long-time SCS faculty member.

The school of computer science was founded in 1956. It is now ranked the number one school for computer science by US News & World Report.

This is not the only multimillion dollar donation in recent memory. Just six months ago Carnegie Mellon's business school received a $55 million donation from alumnus David Tepper (The David A. Tepper School of Business debuts). Before that, the University's Centennial Campaign raised $410 million between 1994 and 2000, including $50 million from the late Paul Mellon in 1999 and an anonymous gift of $54 million in 1997. Funds from the Centennial Campaign were used to endow professorships and helped fund the Purnell Center for the Arts, the University Center, Roberts Engineering Hall, and Posner Hall.

The University's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.  Total donations in fiscal year (FY) 2004, a record fundraising year, were $104 million. Alumni donations from FY1999 to FY2003 averaged $12 million, and total giving each year was near $40 million over the same period, excluding the Paul Mellon gift.

The most recent capital campaign started in July 2003 and is stillin its first phase. The University has raised $179 million since that time. This includes the Tepper donation and exceeds the goal of $130 million hoped for by December 2004, according to Robbee Kosak, vice president of university advancement. Neither a goal nor an ending date has been set for this campaign.

"Do we aspire for $1 billion? Yes. Is that our goal? No," said Kosak.

9/14/04 Correction: Originally, this article stated the Gates Center would be occupied in three years. To clarify, it will open three years after construction begins.