MSU nabs Glass Hall naming-level donation

The Missouri State University College of Business on Thursday accepted a naming-level gift from the Robert Gourley family.

Announced as part of a groundbreaking ceremony, the donation for an undisclosed amount would fund the 37,000-square-foot Robert Gourley Student Success Center. A 1960 business organization and management graduate at MSU, Gourley went on to own several businesses, including a beverage distributorship, photo-developing company and a startup bank in Kansas City, according to a news release.

“Practical experience and solid instruction in the disciplines of business at Missouri State made me ready for the business world,” Gourley said in the release. “I feel it is important to give back to your community, those in need and those who helped me along the way.”

The center would include a simulated New York Stock Exchange trading floor, entrepreneurship and sales labs, a career placement and business advisement center, corporate interview rooms, corporate recruiter space, advertising agency lab, production studio and collaborative spaces.

The home of MSU’s College of Business, Glass Hall is scheduled to a undergo construction and renovation project that could cost $33.8 million for the addition and to make the 1987-built space more modern. The MSU Board of Governors will vote Friday on whether to award the project to DeWitt & Associates Inc. for its $26 million bid, as well as several optional action items.

The MSU Foundation received over $5.4 million in gifts and pledges - including a significant donation from the building’s namesake, David D. Glass, according to the release.

Other donors include:
    •    O’Reilly Automotive Inc.;
    •    American National;
    •    BKD LLP;
    •    Central Bank of the Ozarks; and
    •    Marlin Network.