Campus leaders and Gov. Tony Evers broke ground Thursday on a new engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, after long delays and a protracted political funding battle.
A standing-room-only crowd inside the existing Engineering Hall listened to remarks from Evers and leaders who heralded the project as a chance to expand the flagship university and attract talent to Wisconsin.
“This event has been years in the making,” said Ian Robertson, dean of the UW-Madison’s College of Engineering. “Certainly it has been well worth the wait, although I would rather it happened much quicker.”
News with a little more humanity
WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.
The center is expected to cost $419 million, and will consist of a 395,000-square-foot facility. School leaders say it will allow them to accept an extra 1,000 engineering students each year.
Over the last two years, the building has been a political bargaining chip as legislative Republicans held up public funding in exchange for decreasing programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, across the Universities of Wisconsin system.
At Thursday’s groundbreaking, UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin alluded to that “sometimes rocky path.” She argued the program would retain skilled workers in Wisconsin and help expand Madison’s technical and medical economies.
“We’re not just breaking ground for a building. We’re breaking ground for the future that we’re building together,” she said.
The building will bear the name Philip A. Levy, tied to a $75 million donation from brothers and UW-Madison alumni Marvin and Jeffrey Levy, which is the largest single gift in the engineering school’s history.
On Thursday, Marv Levy said neither he nor his brother trained as engineers during their time in Madison, and nor did their late brother, Phil, who graduated in 1964.
“Occasionally I get, ‘Well, you weren’t engineers, so why the hell are you supporting the project?’” he said. “Well, Jeff and I believe our long-term support for the University of Wisconsin-Madison is literally engineering a great university.”
The Levys’ donation is part of $150 million in total private donations going toward the project. The remaining funds come from the state, after heated negotiations.
The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee nixed public funds for the project during state budget negotiations two years ago. Republican leaders agreed to release funds for that and other UW priorities, including staff raises, after a prolonged negotiation that limited DEI programming, in December 2023.
Months later, Evers signed a bill allowing for the building’s construction, and the project was finally approved by the state building commission in January. School leaders say they hope doors will open on the new facility by 2028.
“The lesson here is this: We must continue to invest in our University of Wisconsin system, defend it and protect its promise for future generation,” Evers said. “Today marks a huge success on that front.”
After the remarks, the Levy brothers, Mnookin, Evers and other supporters of the project, including business leaders, legislators and donors, symbolically broke ground inside the building. Using golden shovels engraved with the future building’s design, they scooped up dirt from a podium amid applause.
Editor’s note: WPR staff are employees of UW-Madison.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2025, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
