New School of Business building to be named Sankey Hall

Two Elon University parents have donated the gift for the naming rights of the expansion to the Love School of Business.

Elon announced Tuesday that Jim and Beth Sankey of Charlotte donated the naming gift and that the 30,000-square-foot building will be named for Jim Sankey’s father, the late Richard W. Sankey.

The three-story building, to be called Richard W. Sankey Hall, is currently being designed. It will be located on the north end of the McMichael Science Center parking lot, adjacent to Colonnades Dining Hall.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York is handling the design.

This is the first major gift made toward the $8 million goal for the project. The timetable for the building’s construction will be set once the funding is complete, according to the release.

“This naming gift from the Sankey family is a remarkable example of philanthropy in action at Elon,” said President Leo Lambert. “As parents of two Elon graduates and an incoming first-year Elon student, the Sankeys have seen firsthand the impact and value of an Elon education. Our community is truly grateful to the Sankeys for their leadership and generosity in support of this important strategic initiative.”

The Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center will both move into Sankey Hall. This allows for the Porter Family Professional Development Center and Reed Finance to be expanded in Koury Business Center.

Sankey Hall will also house two new academic centers that focus on financial education and design thinking.

“Sankey Hall is an essential part of the continued growth and success of the Love School of Business,” said Raghu Tadepalli, dean of the Love School of Business. “Multipurpose classrooms, student-faculty engagement spaces, and academic centers that serve the entire university will be located in this new facility, deepening the learning of generations of Elon students by further integrating the Love School with the entire university.”

Two of the Sankeys' children, Clay ’12 and Wes ’13, have graduated from Elon, and their youngest child, Brooke, is planning to enroll in the class of 2020. The family has previously made donations to the construction of Alumni Field House and the Numen Lumen Pavilion, among other projects.