New UF Alumni And Academic Building To Get Off Ground With $3 Million Gift

March 29, 2000

GAINESVILLE — Classroom and seminar space at the University of Florida is always in demand for an enrollment of 43,000. Add 260,000 UF alumni who like to make an occasional visit to their alma mater and the demand for space gets tighter yet. Now longtime UF alumni and supporters Bill and Jane Emerson of St. Petersburg have made a $3 million gift to help build a new academic and alumni building to ease the space crunch.

The Emersons’ gift, coupled with $2 million from First USA in 1997, will be eligible for matching state funds. Construction on the $8 million to $10 million building could begin in spring 2001.

“We were so pleased with the concept of the building and what it stands for, that as alumni of UF, we felt this was one of the best ways to continue the effectiveness of the Alumni Association and to help meet current student needs,” said Emerson.

The building is to be located at the intersection of West University Avenue and Northwest 20th Street, adjacent to the existing Alumni Hall and other UF Foundation development offices. The design includes three levels totaling approximately 31,000 square feet and limited parking on the ground-floor level. A pedestrian walkway mall and public open space on the Northwest 20th Street side of the building also is proposed.

The new facility will feature a state-of-the-art, high-technology classroom and seminar space for use by alumni, faculty, retired faculty and students for continuing education; interview rooms for on-campus recruiting; libraries; study lounges; and a gift shop managed by retail marketing students.

“The Emersons have shown their dedication to the University of Florida for nearly 50 years,” said Paul Robell, UF vice president for development and alumni affairs. “With the approval of the state Board of Regents and Legislature, the new academic and alumni building will appropriately bear the Emerson name.”

The Emersons have shown their generosity to UF in the past by funding the Emerson Courtyard and by leading a drive to fund the Emerson/Merrill Lynch Professorship, both at UF’s Warrington College of Business.

Bill Emerson retired as senior vice president and national sales director of Merrill Lynch after 40 years and continues to serve as a director of Merrill Lynch Trust Co. He is a 1946 graduate of UF’s Warrington College of Business and is past president of the UF Foundation board.

The University of Florida is in the final year of a five-year, $750 million capital campaign. The “It’s Performance That Counts” campaign seeks private gifts for UF scholarships, faculty positions, facilities and technological enhancements to help the university produce top-quality performance in teaching and research. As of Feb. 29, the campaign had raised more than $616 million in private commitments and state matching support for the university.