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Kearneys launch campaign to renovate Apperson Hall with $3 million gift
After a 32-year career with construction giant Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc., which handles everything from mountain tunnels to deep gorge bridges, Lee Kearney knows something about building big projects. So the Oregon State University engineering alumnus easily recognized when a key gift was needed in the university’s campaign to build a top-tier engineering program.
In 2004 , Lee Kearney and his wife, Connie, gave $3 million to OSU toward the $8 million renovation of the historic Apperson Hall, which will be renamed in their honor. The gift also marked the half-way point in OSU’s $180 million fundraising campaign to build the College of Engineering into one of the top 25 in the nation.
“We’ve watched other alumni step forward and make significant financial contributions to the Top-25 Campaign and have always planned to make a gift at some point,” said Lee Kearney. “Because this will help fund the renovation of Apperson Hall, which is where I took almost all of my civil engineering coursework, Connie and I felt that this was the right opportunity at the right time.”
Apperson Hall, built in 1898, has undergone several changes over the years, including the addition of a third floor in 1920 and an exterior “facelift” in 1999. The latest planned renovation will retain the historic stone façade while transforming the interior to meet the demands of OSU’s cutting-edge engineering programs. The Apperson Hall renovation will include a large auditorium, five new classrooms, a multi-use teaching laboratory, and a high-tech computer facility. It will provide much-needed space for the nationally known Construction Engineering Management Program, the Kiewit Center for Infrastructure and Transportation—one of the College’s top research clusters—and the new Graduate Program in Business and Engineering.
"Our civil engineering program is becoming one of the nation’s best, and this state-of-the-art home will propel it to the next level,” said Ron Adams, OSU’s dean of engineering. “We’re anticipating a great response from our alumni and friends to fund the remaining giving opportunities in Apperson Hall.”
Both Lee and Connie Kearney started their careers at OSU. Lee Kearney earned his degree in civil engineering from OSU in 1963. Connie Kearney started her studies at OSU in 1961 on her way to an undergraduate degree from University of Washington, and a law degree from Creighton University.
Lee Kearney currently sits on the College of Engineering’s advisory board, and Connie Kearney recently joined the board of trustees at the OSU Foundation. Both Kearneys are serving as co-chairs of the College of Engineering’s Top-25 Campaign.
