One of UC San Diego’s most influential donors has given the school $25 million to help build a $60 million, six-story cylindrical tower that will become the university’s first alumni and welcome center.
Taner Halıcıoğlu, one of Facebook’s first 20 employees, also made the gift more broadly to help the university create Triton Center, a $428 million, four-building complex that’s meant to become the emotional and physical heart of campus.
The project is under construction and scheduled to open in 2026, when UCSD’s enrollment is projected to eclipse 44,000. That figure could rise to 50,000 by 2033.
The university has about 245,000 alumni, including human genome pioneer J. Craig Venter, philosopher-activist Angela Davis, sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson and producer/director Mike Judge, who created the animated TV series “Beavis and Butt-Head.”
“I am full of hope and excitement about the Triton Alumni and Welcome Center,” Halıcıoğlu said in a statement.
“Connections with other students filled with big ideas, faculty who challenge us to aim higher and fellow alumni who share our desire to make change in the world have, for me, always been at the heart of UC San Diego’s identity.”
The alumni tower will represent a distinct and lively addition to the university’s architecture. The school says a mesh screen will wrap around more than half of the building’s exterior, making it possible to display images and videos of everything from concerts to sports events and breaking news. There also will be a rooftop terrace that will provide a full view of campus.
Halıcıoğlu, who earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science at UCSD, previously gave the school $75 million to help establish a data science institute whose scholars address everything from climate change to human disease. He also donated more than $3 million to renovate the school’s main computer science building.
