Roberts’ Present Helps Healthcare Design, Architectural Photography, Examine Overseas

Greg Roberts, a University of Arkansas alumnus and retired principal with WHR Architects, has given $3 million to the college to proceed help for an endowed chair, set up an endowed scholarship and a program endowment, and supply for the naming of a studio area within the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

“As a proud Razorback who used what he learned here to build a remarkable career, Greg Roberts knows firsthand the transformative power of a University of Arkansas education,” stated Chancellor Charles Robinson. “This extraordinary gift will help give generations of Fay Jones School students the knowledge, experiences and faculty leadership they need to thrive in their own careers. We are deeply grateful for Greg’s generosity and steadfast commitment to the U of A.”

Roberts, initially from Fort Smith, is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and had a profitable profession in healthcare design for over three many years. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the U of A in 1971 earlier than transferring to Houston to start his profession.

“This generous gift from Greg Roberts will significantly impact the ‘design futures’ of the Fay Jones School,” stated Dean Peter MacKeith. “His initial gift emphasizes and supports the important role design plays in shaping the built environment to the specific needs of health and wellness.”

“This new, dramatic expansion of Greg’s gift in both size and scope is testament to his own vision, belief and commitment to the future of the school and its teaching and learning mission,” MacKeith continued, “as well as to the seemingly boundless generosity of his heart. Future generations of Fay Jones School students will benefit from the scholarship support and the expansion of our visualization resources. Thank you, Greg Roberts!”

Healthcare and Wellness Design

The increasing area of healthcare has develop into more and more necessary, significantly in Northwest Arkansas with organizations such because the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine and the Heartland Whole Health Institute. Roberts stated he believes it is going to be advantageous for structure and design college students on the U of A to review healthcare and wellness design.

“It’s one building type that has been very rewarding for me. It’s one type that really has an impact with people, not only on their wellbeing but on their longevity,” Roberts stated. “Early on in my relationship with Dean MacKeith, we talked about how the school should develop a curriculum with a focus on healthcare and wellness. I’m hoping my gift will help nurture that direction.”

This present will increase a $1 million deliberate present Roberts made in 2020 that created the Greg L. Roberts Endowed Chair in Healthcare and Wellness Design within the Fay Jones School. From this current present, $1 million will improve help for the chair within the following methods:

• Attracting and retaining extremely certified people to the place
• Supplementing college help for excellent college
• Providing the holder with the assets to develop their contributions to educating, analysis and public service

Architectural Photography

Roberts stated that architectural images is a vital side {of professional} architectural observe. It is helpful for constructing an archive of labor, for advertising functions and for utilizing visible aids to assist clarify development and renovation processes to contractors. During visits to the Fay Jones School, Roberts noticed college students merely utilizing their cell telephones to {photograph} tasks. He has contributed $1 million to assist enhance this course of.

Of this, $500,000 will set up the Greg L. Roberts Endowment for Architectural Photography and Visualization. The instructional initiative highlights the significance of architectural images, image-making and visualization to the design career. These funds will help skilled elective seminars, curated exhibitions, public lectures associated to architectural images, gear acquisition and upgrades, software program for renderings, digital actuality imaging gear and coaching, and amenities.

The remaining $500,000 will fund the Greg L. Roberts Architectural Photography and Imaging Studio, which can function the house of the brand new instructional initiative devoted to architectural images, image-making and visualization. The fund will convert studio 019, positioned on the backyard degree of Vol Walker Hall, into a brand new multipurpose area that facilitates picture shoots, picture and archival storage, and studio workstations.

Travel Scholarships

The remaining $1 million of Roberts’ present will create the Greg L. Roberts Endowed Travel Scholarships in Architecture and supply monetary help to college students pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture for the examine overseas element of the skilled diploma program. Recipients of the scholarships have to be enrolled full-time within the skilled monitor structure program, have no less than a 2.75 grade level common, and be getting into their fourth or fifth 12 months of this system. Funds shall be used for examine overseas and travel-related bills in finishing this system’s examine overseas requirement.

“We are grateful to Greg Roberts for his investment in the full arc of a University of Arkansas education — rigorous training, exposure to the world beyond campus and the tools needed to practice at the highest professional level,” stated Scott Varady, vice chancellor for development. “By supporting faculty leadership, hands-on learning and global educational experience, Greg is helping ensure students are prepared to design environments that serve people, communities and health systems now and for generations to come.”

Roberts stated the U of A and the Fay Jones School are deeply significant to him. He attended the college from 1966 to 1971 — a dynamic time within the nation outlined by main social and political modifications. Roberts remembers this time as difficult, thrilling and stimulating. He turned very shut along with his classmates within the Fay Jones School and maintains shut contact with many to this present day. The Fay Jones School graduating class of 1971 gathers for reunions periodically, and Roberts and his classmate Jeffrey Scherer keep a weblog for the category.

“It was just a time when a lot of changes were going on. Those memories and relationships have meant a lot to me, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve made these gifts, to give back to the university and, particularly, the school of architecture,” Roberts stated. “I’m very proud of that education and the experiences that I had during that time. I’m very excited about the direction the department has been going. Particularly since Dean MacKeith took over the helm, it’s made tremendous strides to become a notable school of architecture in the country.”

Roberts is a member of the Arkansas Alumni Association and the Fay Jones School’s Dean’s Circle. He is acknowledged as a Thoroughred for his 16 years of consecutive giving to the University of Arkansas and is included within the Towers of Old Main, a giving society for the college’s most beneficiant benefactors.

About University Advancement: University Advancement advances the mission of the University of Arkansas by elevating non-public present help from alumni, associates, mother and father, foundations, companies, and different institutional supporters. Working in philanthropic partnership with educational leaders and volunteers, Advancement crew members are decided to advance the individuals, work, and affect of the larger entire on the University of Arkansas.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas’ flagship establishment, the U of A supplies an internationally aggressive schooling in additional than 200 educational packages. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes greater than $3 billion to Arkansas’ economy  by the educating of latest information and expertise, entrepreneurship and job growth, discovery by analysis and inventive exercise whereas additionally offering coaching for skilled disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the many few U.S. schools and universities with the very best degree of analysis exercise. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the many prime public universities within the nation. See how the U of A works to construct a greater world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.