Giving the largest private donation in the college’s history, Phyllis M. Taylor donated $15 million to the College of Engineering to aid in renovations to Patrick F. Taylor Hall, named for her late husband, and the construction of a chemical engineering facility.
Director of Communications for the College of Engineering Mimi LaValle said an architectural firm that will design the new building and renovations should be secured in July, and the construction is slated to begin in fall 2014 with a completion date set for 2017.
Phyllis Taylor’s April 20 donation kicked off the Breaking New Ground campaign, which will support the project throughout the process, LaValle said.
Taylor serves as the co-chair of the Breaking New Ground campaign. Patrick F. Taylor contributed to the University and Louisiana higher education through the TOPS program, she said.
Taylor said her husband always credited the University for the opportunity to get his college degree in petroleum engineering, which served as his guidance while working to give back to the University to benefit future generations of students.
“I of course felt compelled to assist in any way that I could,” Taylor said. “So, I thought, ‘Well, what better way to use some of the funds from his estate than to help to fund the renovations of a building that will be the legacy in his name to provide opportunity for young students in the future?’”
Biological engineering junior and president-elect of the College of Engineering college council Shelby Pursley said the new facilities will give the college the boost it needs for the future.
“It’ll really put us on the map to have this new facility and to graduate the numbers that we’ll be able to graduate in the future,” she said.
Around 700 students graduate from the College of Engineering each year, and the new facilities will allow that number to grow, Taylor said.
LaValle said newer facilities are needed at this time, especially with the new IBM partnership with the University that aims to triple the amount of computer science engineers.
Taylor said the new facilities will increase the number of students who can study engineering at the University — something her husband strived for.
“This is what the two of us have worked for all along: to see that students of Louisiana, in particular, have a chance to get the education that they need and want,” Taylor said.
“This is what the two of us have worked for all along: to see that students of Louisiana, in particular, have a chance to get the education that they need and want.”
