Home to over 500 students and founded by industry donors to produce top talent for the construction industry, the Virginia Tech Myers-Lawson School of Construction resides in both the College of Engineering and the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, and offers degrees in both colleges: building construction and construction engineering and management.
Unlike typical schools or departments in a state university, the Myers-Lawson School of Construction has a donor-centric business model. This means its budget and ability to grow are largely dependent on the generosity of the founding donors and continued support of alumni and friends.
The return on investment is undeniable, as seen in:
- Insatiable demand for our graduates. Myers-Lawson students enjoy 100 percent job placement, multiple offers prior to graduation, and average starting salaries of $66,000.
- Increased industry diversity. Future female construction managers graduate from Myers-Lawson at three times the national rate. Women comprise 50 percent of faculty and more than 20 percent of students – far above the national average of 6 percent for women construction managers. Students of color comprise 14 percent, versus 3 percent industrywide.
- Ut Prosim in service learning and outreach. Students and faculty dedicate their energy and time to life-changing service projects at home and abroad – from local “repair cafés” where students fix household items to spring break service trips to build safe community gathering places for inner-city youth.
- Industry partnership. Led by the school’s nationally recognized Industry Advisory Board, Myers-Lawson has developed unique communities of practice partnerships with industry professionals around strategic projects in safety, health and well-being, smart design and construction, human-centered issues, and infrastructure and project management.
- Research innovation. We’ve developed safety gaming that increases hazard identification by 30 percent; advances in the use of sensors in construction; an engineering control that prevents kickback injuries from cutoff saws; improved means and methods through the use of augmented and virtual reality; advances in sustainability, resilience, project management, and building performance; and advances in construction education and industry training.
With great results like these – coupled with skyrocketing demand for construction talent – it’s no surprise that the school has been challenged to double the number of students in the next few years.
Your gift today supports Virginia Tech’s growth as a national leader in the construction industry, and it can also work to expand the impact, prestige, and value of your degree. Annual giving in any amount helps boost national stature and enhances our ability to recruit, train, and graduate the next generations of construction leaders. Your generosity enables our school and its students, faculty, and graduates to fulfill our land-grant, service-inspired mission.
On this inaugural Giving Day and in the spirit of Ut Prosim, we ask building construction and construction engineering and management alumni, and friends across the nation to continue their support of the Myers-Lawson School of Construction – or even to support the school for the first time.
Please make a gift today of any amount – and become a Giving Day Ambassador for the school. With your support, Virginia Tech’s Myers-Lawson School of Construction can continue to build a formidable legacy – and promising future – of Hokie excellence in construction.
