Prominent spaces named in new Data and Decision Sciences Building to recognize alumni generosity

The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors recently approved naming prominent spaces within the university’s long anticipated transdisciplinary Data and Decision Sciences Building in recognition of gifts made by alumni linked to the professional services firm Deloitte and the accounting and advisory firm EY.

The Deloitte Foundation Virginia Tech Alumni Trading Analytics Lab in Memory of Jon Taillon and Angel Vaccaro was named in recognition of $3 million in collective giving by over 180 people connected to Deloitte, which includes the company’s charitable foundation’s 2:1 match associated with individual alumni’s personal giving. Deloitte Hokies have a special giving initiative to not only support the initiative but to expand the overall participation of Deloitte Hokies of all ages to advance the culture of philanthropy to Virginia Tech.

The EY Foundation Virginia Tech Alumni Partners Data and Collaboration Hub, which includes a data visualization classroom and 12 team rooms, was named in recognition of $1.7 million in collective giving by over 20 alumni connected to EY, which includes the company’s charitable foundation’s match associated with individual alumni’s personal giving. 

The 120,000-gross-square-foot Data and Decision Sciences Building is one of two academic structures being built near the northwest end of campus as part of a Global Business and Analytics Complex, often referred to as GBAC.

With its first transdisciplinary building bringing together colleges to directly support the Commonwealth’s Technology Talent Investment Program, the creation of the Data and Decision Sciences Building is expected to be a transformational moment at Virginia Tech.

The Data and Decision Sciences Building and the entire complex are designed to foster collaboration, especially among Pamplin College of Business, College of Engineering, and the College of Science. Along with classrooms and faculty and graduate student offices for the three colleges, the Data and Decision Sciences Building includes specialized labs, dozens of student team rooms, and visualization spaces.

The further integration of the business disciplines with computer science in the College of Engineering and the College of Science Computational Modeling and Data Analytics (CMDA) program will provide the kind of learning environment that Virginia Tech faculty and students require in this era of big data and complex problems with focus on computer engineering sectors as well as other technology-based and cyber security industries. Julie Ross, dean of the College of Engineering, and Mark Embree, director of the CMDA program, addressed the Board of Visitors about these topics during a special tour of the Data and Decision Sciences Building at the board's June meeting.

The building also will connect to the second  academic building in GBAC,  where the Pamplin College of Business will be relocated. The new business building is currently under design per Board of Visitors approval in April 2022.

“We are extremely grateful for the generosity to this project by so many alumni and friends affiliated with Deloitte and with EY,” said Roberta “Robin” Russell, interim dean of the Pamplin College of Business. “The opening of the Data and Decision Sciences Building and the anticipated second building that is in the planning stage will bring together students and faculty from multiple programs to apply data-driven insight to complex problems of worldwide importance.”