We hosted a groundbreaking celebration for the Impact & Prosperity Epicenter on Sept. 15. Guests included campus leaders, David Eccles School of Business Dean Rachel Hayes, University of Utah President Taylor Randall, and anchor donors Bob and Lynette Gay and Jim and Krista Sorenson. Here are highlights from the event:
The new Impact & Prosperity Epicenter is a multidisciplinary hub that advances the University of Utah’s mission to inspire, innovate, and impact. This living-learning community will provide a place for students to engage with transformational work and become powerful global citizens.
The building is possible thanks to anchor donations from Bob and Lynette Gay and Jim and Krista Sorenson. In addition to common space and student housing, the Epicenter will also be the new home of the Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity and the Sorenson Impact Center.
Ground was officially broken on the project on Sept. 15, 2022, and the building is expected to be completed by fall 2024.
The Impact & Prosperity Epicenter is the perfect compliment to the motto of the David Eccles School of Business: Doers Wanted. As part of the Eccles School, the Epicenter will create a space where students and faculty from across disciplines and from every part of campus can collaborate to get important work done, said Dean Rachel Hayes.
Steve Alder, executive director of the Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity said that while the road to the building’s groundbreaking was not an easy one, everyone’s resolve to make a difference was stronger — and the new Epicenter will help the university and its students do exactly that.
Donors Bob and Lynette Gay shared their vision, that the Epicenter will be a place that gives the word impact real meaning, and makes it a reality here and around the world.
Geoff Davis, CEO of the Sorenson Impact Center, said their mission has always been to help students put impact at the center of all their decision-making. The new Epicenter will multiply that mission and bring it to more students than ever before.
Jim Sorenson, Epicenter donor and founder of the Sorenson Impact Center, also shared his vision for the new building — and the programs and experiences that will be housed there: that it will create the highest learnings related to impact and prosperity, and then share those across the globe.
President Randall told the crowd gathered at the groundbreaking event, this new building — and the experiences it will create for students — represent the very soul of the university.
Watch this space for more information and live updates on the progress of this exciting new campus landmark.