$50 million to build science facility set to elevate campus experience

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor is planning a major investment in science education, with a new $50 million state-of-the-art lab facility, set to transform its campus.

Backed by a multi-million-dollar donor challenge, the three-story building will expand hands-on learning opportunities and support the university’s growing number of science and health students.

The facility will include 13 state-of-the-art biology and chemistry labs, research and collaboration spaces, student gathering areas, and about 40 new faculty and staff offices, serving science and health majors as well as much of the undergraduate student body.

“I think students are just going to flourish in that new space,” Dean of the College of Humanities and Science Stephen Baldridge expressed. “And so, they’re going to be able to, like I said, learn in new, bigger, modern labs and collaborate with each other. There’s going to be a lot of faculty office space there. So there’s going to be a lot of energy. Literally from the ground up, from when they walk in and have the collaboration spaces and the places where they can study and learn and be a community with one another.”

“This Challenge Grant is huge for us,” UMHB Vice President for Advancement Tucker Glaske said. “We have conversations every day, and I’ve even closed several major gifts. It’s because of the energy from our donors with the ability to double their impact and double their donation.”

The university is working to raise an additional $5 million by the end of 2026, backed by a strategic fundraising effort.

“We have accepted a challenge, and we have turned around to our alumni and friends, and they have accepted that challenge,” Glaske explained.

“And the response has been overwhelming. Thanks to our UMHB community, I believe that we will not only meet the challenge, but we will exceed it, and we will open these doors debt-free on a $50 million facility.”

The state-of-the-art lab will feature upgraded technology, offering more advanced equipment than what’s currently available in existing labs.

“For as long as I’ve been here, technology is always changing,” Baldridge emphasized. “There’s always something new and better out. And we have done a really good job and have been able to provide a lot of that to our students. But just as facilities age, sometimes there are limitations to that.”

University leaders say they’ve received enthusiastic feedback from faculty and students eager to see the new science facility take shape.

“‘How many classes am I going to get to have there?’ We’re in advising season, so students are already looking at their degree plans and thinking, ‘When can I have a lab in this new building?’ and we are able to tell them that, and so I think that’s exciting,” Baldridge explained.

“Faculty who’ve been involved in the design process since the very beginning. And so, they’ve been in and looking at other facilities at other universities, seeing what they want, and talking about the space that they need. And we’ve been able to provide pretty much all of that.”

The project includes a planned 56,032-square-foot, three-story science lab facility, with construction potentially beginning in summer 2026 and an expected opening in January 2028.