Washington State's veterinary college lands $26 million from Microsoft co-founder

Pullman, Wash.

-- Washington State University's veterinary college just received the largest gift in its history -- $26 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

According to the university, the gift kicks off a university fund-raising campaign to raise $1 billion by 2015. Allen's gift will fund construction and programs at WSU's School for Global Animal Health.

"Washington State University has been important to me since I was a student there in the 1970s," Allen says in a prepared statement. "Our family foundation, under the leadership of my sister Jody, has supported a number of programs at WSU. And today, I am happy to be able to make a significant personal gift to help WSU broaden its reach and touch many more lives," he says.

"Expansion of the School for Global Animal Health will foster important research to improve Africa's capabilities to respond to animal-borne diseases. I also look forward to seeing faculty and student exchanges that will tie WSU to communities in Africa in lasting ways," he adds.

Part of the gift will be used to complete the matching portion of the funding for construction of the $35 million School for Global Animal Health Building, which is partially funded through a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Construction on that 62,000-square-foot research building began on the Pullman campus in June; completion is expected in spring 2012, the university reports.

WSU's School for Global Animal Health will be renamed the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health and the new building will be named the Paul G. Allen Center for Global Animal Health.