Colorado State University will construct an innovative new academic building that will transform engineering education for generations to come, thanks to two landmark philanthropic gifts and a strategic investment from CSU students.
This ambitious vision for the Don and Susie Law Engineering Future Technologies Building was spurred by a $10 million gift in 2020 from the Laws, two alumni who have demonstrated a long-term commitment to strengthening the undergraduate and graduate engineering experience at CSU.
Signaling an extraordinary acceleration toward new levels of excellence for engineering research and education at CSU, the new building will become a reality thanks to a $50 million commitment of existing fees from students and – inspired by the student investment – a $50 million matching gift from the Walter Scott Family Foundation.
The Don and Susie Law Engineering Future Technologies Building will be a 165,000-square-foot interdisciplinary learning hub situated in the heart of CSU’s campus, with classrooms, laboratories and other innovation spaces that focus on the ways digital technology and artificial intelligence will shape and transform engineering and related fields.
“The Law Building will be a transformational addition to the CSU campus. It will place our engineering programs among the very best in the country,” said CSU President Amy Parsons. “Don and Susie saw the need for just such a building at CSU years ago, and we would not be moving forward with this project without their tremendous vision. Our stalwart supporters at the Scott Family Foundation have always believed in CSU and, more importantly, believed in our students. And our students made an impressive commitment not for themselves, but to ensure that future Rams benefit from a state-of-the-art learning environment.”
“We are incredibly grateful for this unwavering support from the Laws, the Scott Family Foundation and our students,” Parsons said. “Together, these historic investments will further strengthen our national reputation for academic and research excellence across our institution, allowing us to recruit and retain the most talented students, faculty and staff.”
The CSU System Board of Governors will formally consider the project as part of its regular meeting this week. The university will continue to fundraise for the building.
When finished, the Law Building will bring together students from engineering, computer science and other disciplines across campus to study and apply digital engineering and artificial intelligence in partnership with industry to tackle society’s most pressing challenges. The building will sit immediately east of the Lory Student Center on the site of the existing Glover Building.
“The Law Building will be a transformational addition to the CSU campus. It will place our engineering programs among the very best in the country.”- stated CSU President Amy Parsons.
Allen Robinson, dean of the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, said the Law Building will create an innovative, hands‐on learning environment that will equip students with the modern skills they need to be leaders in their field.
“Our goal in this new building is to help equip all CSU students – not just engineers – to be innovators and leaders in areas like smart infrastructure, climate and weather prediction, and environmental sustainability – all of which will become increasingly dependent on AI technologies in the future,” he said. “The integration of computing and engineering is driving technology innovation. The cutting edge of this is artificial intelligence. The new building will bring together students and faculty from across campus at this critical nexus.”
The university’s relationship with Don and Susie Law goes back decades. The husband-and-wife pair met in 1972 at CSU and are both proud alumni of the university. Don founded his oil and gas company, Prima Exploration, in 1980, which has drilling operations in eight states.
As empty nesters later in life, the Laws established Law Estate Wines in California. Both businesses continue to prosper and have allowed the family to donate to a variety of organizations, including CSU.
Over the years, the Laws have supported numerous initiatives and programs at CSU. In 2019, they jointly received the William E. Morgan Alumni Achievement Award, the highest honor given by the CSU Alumni Association. It is reserved for alumni who have excelled at the national level, and whose work has benefited society and brought credit to the university.
“Education can take a person anywhere they want to go,” said Susie Law. “Any way that we can make learning easier or more fun is money well spent. Plus, education lifts not only the student but that student’s future generations, increasing the value exponentially. Don and I met at Colorado State, so it will always have a special place in my heart. And since Don’s degree is Civil Engineering and mine is Computer Science, this building is the perfect representation of our passions.”
Their naming gift created the vision for the project, keeping it on track through the financial challenges posed by the pandemic. Don said they were thrilled to continue their relationship with the university and excited to see new activity on the project.
“I can see this addition to the College of Engineering as being a catalyst to propel the school to a higher plateau in the realm of national engineering colleges,” Don Law said. “I was a first-generation college student. I am so appreciative of the terrific education I was afforded at CSU, and by the engineering college, specifically. It is an honor to pay it forward for the benefit of these and future students”.
The university’s relationship with Walter Scott, Jr. began in the 1950s. With this latest gift, the Scott family and its foundation become CSU’s largest philanthropic partner, with donations totaling more than $116 million.
A 1953 civil engineering alumnus, Walter Scott, Jr. spent almost his entire career at construction firm Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc., where he was elected president in 1979. He first began supporting student scholarships at CSU in 1981. That has continued for decades through the Scott Foundation and includes gifts for the construction of the Suzanne and Walter Scott, Jr. Bioengineering Building.
Walter Scott, Jr.’s donations also established the Scott Scholars Program for high-achieving undergraduate engineering students. This signature scholarship program provides funding for the cost of attendance and implements pathways into research activities, leadership training and networking opportunities. Scott expanded the influential program shortly before his death in 2021 with an additional $11 million in funding over the next 10 years.
In 2016 the university recognized the family’s contributions by changing the name of its engineering college to the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering.
“Walter viewed his giving to CSU as an investment in students’ education with the goal of ensuring they have access to educational opportunities and experiences that equip them to become leaders in their fields,” said Calvin Sisson, president and CEO of the Scott Foundation. “He also believed that students gain a deeper appreciation of the value of their education when they contribute to funding it. Our decision to make this new gift by matching the students’ commitment to the Engineering Future Technologies Building honors the students’ commitment to moving their campus forward.”
The new Law building will include facilities like Artificial Intelligence Makerspace, Digital and Physical Prototyping Labs and start-up garages to accelerate student and faculty technology innovation and entrepreneurship. The facility also includes state-of-the-art classrooms and will house 10 new faculty hires in all engineering disciplines with expertise in AI.
The building will also house the Scott Scholars Program and cross-university academic units such as the forthcoming Construction Engineering degree program – set to welcome the first cohort in fall 2025. University leadership anticipates the new building will prompt an increase in total research expenditures on campus and allow for the enrollment of up to 700 more engineering students by the year 2032.
A key funding source in the project is $50 million in fees that was previously approved by student vote in 2020. Scott Foundation leadership said that impressive commitment from the student body was a key factor in their decision to support the project.
CSU student Stephen Laffey is the chair of the University Facility Fee Advisory Board, which gave final approval for the funds in September. He said the investment from CSU students will enhance the campus for years to come.
“This building project reflects what students want: updated, highly functional spaces that support learning and community,” Laffey said. “It also allows us to uphold the tradition of ‘paying it forward.’ Just as previous students paid increased fees for buildings which we now benefit from today, we are doing the same for future Rams.”
The Law Building will also eventually anchor a “technology quadrangle” to be built on campus in the coming decade. Dean Robinson envisions this quad as a combination of new buildings and open spaces that would link researchers and students working together on AI and other digital technologies with partners in the College of Natural Sciences and Warner College of Natural Resources, where the technology is likely to become commonplace.
“The goal is to create a shared space for disciplines – traditional strengths of this university – to stimulate research and collaboration around AI,” Robinson said. “For now, our focus is on making the Don and Susie Law Engineering Future Technologies Building a reality.”