$175 Million Project to Break Ground Friday

By: Alex Barfield, Promotions Director

October 26, 2021

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi will ceremonially break ground on a new academic building Friday.

The Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation will be the largest single construction project in the history of the Oxford campus. Jim and Thomas Duff are Mississippi businessmen and donated $26 million to the construction project.

University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce says the center will aid in the University training STEM graduates. “There is a critical need to increase the number of graduates in STEM fields to support growth and innovation in our state, region and nation,” he said.

The building will be 204,000 square feet and cost an estimated total of $175 million. The new center will be located between Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and The Grove.

The center will house lecture rooms and lab spaces, including a specialized 3D lab, for chemistry, biology, physics, computer science, and engineering classes. There will be student study rooms and a STEM tutoring center.  

The Gertrude C. Ford Foundation committed $20 million to the building and $5 million to landscaping. The garden area around the building will include a tribute to author William Faulkner of Oxford.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be Friday at 10am. Attendees will include Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker and the Duff brothers.