Media Credit: Rachel Schwartz | Assistant Photo Editor
According to a release from the university, the renovation project should be completed by fall 2023.
Officials will use $2.5 million in alumni gifts to update technology and classrooms at the business school’s Duquès Hall, according to a Wednesday release.
Henry “Rick” and Dawn Dukes donated $2.5 million to update the technical and physical spaces of Dukes Hall, the release said. According to the press release, the project should be completed by the fall 2023 semester.
Business school dean Anuj Mehrotra said the gift would “dramatically enhance” the teaching and learning experience.
“Modernisation will ensure that the facility reflects our top-notch academics and inspires inspiration and innovation,” he said.
The gift will fund construction to add “reversible seating” to the building’s two classrooms, allowing students to switch from a lectern facing the center of the room to facing a row behind students, the release said. The project will add new technologies and update soundproofing for digital instructional content creation in the Instructional Innovation Studio.
Officials said they will use the donated funds to promote virtual and hybrid instruction and renovate the building’s lobby to facilitate networking.
In 2002, Ric and Dawn Duquès donated $5 million to the university when their daughter graduated from school.
The $5 million gift funded the initial construction of Duquès as an extension to Funger Hall. The construction project costing more than $50 million moved the business school from the halls of government to Dukes.
Duquès originally opened in January 2006. The university last updated the building this summer, adding a gender-neutral restroom.
Ric Duquès attended GW’s undergraduate program on a basketball scholarship. He has since been elected a member and honorary trustee of the GW Memorial Alumni Association. Duquès said he “couldn’t afford to pay” to attend GW in 1961.
“The university invested in me,” Dukes said in the release. “It seemed fitting for Dawn and me that we share some of our successes with GW.”
Dawn Duquès has served on the National Council for the Graduate School of Education and Human Development.
“The Duquès name is synonymous with excellence,” said Interim University President Mark Wrighton. “We are grateful for the family’s continued investment in George Washington University and for recognizing that the contributions and engagement of our alumni greatly enhance our excellence.”
This article was published in the October 10, 2022 issue of Hatchet Magazine.