W&M receives $30M anonymous donation

An anonymous William & Mary alumna has donated $30 million to renovate and rename a building in honor of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, who is currently the university’s chancellor.

Robert M. Gates Hall will house three academic centers — the Global Research Institute, the Institute for Integrative Conservation and the Whole of Government Center of Excellence — W&M announced Wednesday. Brown Hall, a currently vacant building on the Williamsburg campus, will be renovated to become Gates Hall, a LEED-certified facility with gathering spaces, in addition to the three centers. The W&M Foundation, which owns and operates Brown Hall, will partner with the W&M Real Estate Foundation in the renovation, which is expected to be finished by 2026, in time for celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“I have long admired President [Katherine] Rowe’s leadership and am thrilled to support her bold vision through reimagined spaces where new knowledge can grow, and grand challenges find solutions,” the anonymous donor said in a statement. “I am thankful for the opportunity to recognize Chancellor Gates. Given the divisions in our nation and world, we need leaders of his caliber, patriotism and integrity — now more than ever.” The anonymous alumna is a member of the W&M Foundation board, according to the university’s announcement.

The $30 million donation is William & Mary’s third largest individual gift. Earlier major donations include an anonymous couple’s $50 million donation in 2015 to the university’s law and business schools, 1955 alumna Martha Wren Briggs’ $31.7 million gift in 2016 for the Muscarelle Museum of Art, 1932 alumnus Roy R. Charles’ 1999 bequest of $24.5 million to start the Charles Center for Academic Excellence, and Walter J. Zable’s $23.9 million bequest in 2013, which funded football scholarships and stadium renovations.

The Global Research Institute was founded in 2008 as a multidisciplinary center that applies research to worldwide issues, and according to W&M, has collaborated with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the State Department and other organizations. The Institute for Integrative Conservation was established in 2020 to focus on ecological conservation issues. The Whole of Government Center of Excellence was launched in 2017 as part of W&M’s master of public policy degree offerings, and it focuses on national security and interagency collaboration.

“This is the greatest honor I’ve received in my lifetime,” said Gates, a 1965 W&M graduate. “William & Mary is where I felt called to public service, and I can see that the call to make a difference is still felt strongly here. This building will serve as a hub for generations of students and faculty to cultivate new ideas to contribute to the nation and the world.”

Gates served as defense secretary under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, and is the only person to serve as head of the DOD under two consecutive presidents of different political parties. In 2022, William & Mary started the annual Gates Forum, in which political leaders gather to discuss U.S. policies, and the new Gates Hall will host future forums and other events.

Brown Hall was built on the corner of Prince George and North Boundary streets, near Colonial Williamsburg, in 1930 as an off-campus residence for Methodist women students at William & Mary, and later served as a male student dormitory, Army housing, rented space for military families, upperclassmen residences and, most recently, a freshman dorm. In 2021, the building ended its use as student housing.

Gates Hall will include two wings with a courtyard in the middle, including a balcony and an outdoor learning space.

Before work starts to convert Brown Hall to Gates Hall beginning this fall, archaeologists will conduct excavations at the site, where the Williamsburg Bray School for enslaved and free Black children was started in 1760. William & Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation plan to collaborate on preservation and documentation of the school’s history, continuing excavation work begun several years ago. Gates Hall will host exhibits on the Bray School’s history and legacy, according to W&M.

“We are deeply grateful for our trustee’s passion for conservation and sustainability — so important to the work that will take place in this special building,” W&M President Katherine Rowe said in a statement. “Like the chancellor, she is a true servant leader; she does not seek recognition for herself. Through her partnership, across the university, she has inspired us to aim high. Gates Hall will build on other initiatives that her generosity has brought to life here.”