Building the Future: Saunders College of Business Expansion
Infrastructure
for the Next Generation
of Business
Students in Saunders College of Business receive a unique education; one that integrates business with technology and design thinking. The expansion will drive creativity and innovation among the next generation of business leaders.
RIT is committed to supporting this forward-thinking educational approach with a facility that fosters student and faculty collaboration, accommodates new academic programs, and encourages community engagement.
Gallery
The Saunders College of Business expansion will nearly double the building’s current footprint. Inspired by the latest technology and building features found in industry, with an additional 36,000 square feet, Saunders College will better incorporate essential elements of applied learning and collaboration.
Essential to the building extension, there will be a premier university event space that doubles as an experiential learning lab for business students. The location will also benefit the entire RIT community as thousands of visitors and students will attend conferences, workshops, celebrations, and several other events each year.
Originally designed by Robert Macon, Max Lowenthal Hall, was constructed in the late 1970s. The new design by LaBella Associates seeks to honor the architectural language of the existing building, while reinterpreting materials to present them in a more modern way.
Learn more about what to expect with the building expansion.
Special Features
Student team rooms and flexible spaces to drive student and faculty collaboration.
A state-of-the-art auditorium to support distinguished guest lectures and events that enable the rich engagement of students, faculty, alumni, and business and community leaders.
Applied research collaboratories to support research focused on addressing contemporary business challenges.
A premier, multi-functional event venue that will also serve as a learning laboratory for the hospitality-related programs.
A café with comfortable seating with snacks to refuel and study throughout the day and evening.
Existing classrooms will also be renovated in support of innovative and student-centered pedagogy.
Transformational Gifts
This project would not have been possible without Saunders College alumni and friends. Donors and awards collectively committed nearly $12 million toward the project.
- E. Philip Saunders serial entrepreneur and philanthropist;
- Chance Wright ’18 (advertising photography), ’19 (MBA);
- Susan Holliday ’85 (MBA);
- Klaus Gueldenpfennig ’74 MS (electrical engineering), ’77 (MBA);
- Brigitte Gueldenpfennig ’81 (MBA);
- Dinah Gueldenpfennig Weisberg ’97 MS (software development and management), ’03 (EMBA);
- New York state’s Higher Education Capital Matching Grant Program.