The Culverhouse College of Business announced plans for the construction of a new building named Hewson Hall at a ceremony in front of Bidgood Hall on Friday. The building will be named in recognition of alumni Marillyn and James Hewson who gifted The University of Alabama $15 million in July.

Construction will cost $60 million, and the Hewsons’ $15 million gift will go toward the building. Hewson Hall will be 108,000 square feet, centered around a three-story atrium with lecture halls, collaboration and event spaces, classrooms and offices for business students. The building will be situated on the western edge of campus.

“Next year we celebrate our centennial and while we’ve made it 100 years – and I think we’ve done that fairly well – there’s a lot more that we have left to do,” said Kay Palan, dean of Culverhouse. “The world of Culverhouse is truly expansive. It is a very exciting time for us, and we are deeply grateful to the Hewsons for all they have done to ensure Culverhouse continues to be the best in business education and research.”

While Culverhouse has not added any new buildings on campus since 1994, enrollment in the college has tripled during that time. According to the college’s website, 9,155 students were enrolled in Culverhouse in the fall of 2017, and the students enrolled came from 48 states.

UA President Stuart R. Bell said the Hewsons’ gift is going to provide the required space to educate the almost 9,000 future business leaders in the Culverhouse College of Business and broaden the impact of the college.

The building is scheduled to open in June 2021 and will be rooted in the University’s traditional architecture while also encompassing innovative learning and research space with full technological capabilities.

“I think it’s great that the University is continuing to build up the business program,” said Evan Tucker, a junior majoring in finance. “The addition of a new building will be a great investment that will make an already good division even better.”

Before becoming chairman, president and CEO of the aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin, Marillyn Hewson attended The University of Alabama where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in economics. It is also where she met her husband James Hewson, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communications.

Hewson was recently named Chief Executive magazine’s 2018 CEO of the Year and ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s annual Most Powerful Women list.

“We are aligned with the vision that The University of Alabama has for their students to be the future leaders of the world,” Hewson said. “We think one of the most important things is education and giving young students the opportunities to lift up and grow through education and the experiences that they have in university.”

In 2017 the Hewsons made a $5 million commitment to the Culverhouse College of Business, which led to the creation of the Marillyn A. Hewson Data Analytics Lab. According to Culverhouse’s website, the lab “serves as a premier research center for data analytics that provides collaboration and research across government, industry and academia to help companies anticipate and solve critical problems.”

In order to raise the additional $15 million to build Hewson Hall, a campaign committee has been created, headed by businessman C.T. Fitzpatrick with Hewson serving as honorary co-chair.

Bell said it’s the University’s honor to highlight alumni who uphold the Capstone’s values.

“The Hewsons truly embody the heart of this great institution, and they understand the importance of changing the world through teaching, through research and through service,” Bell said.