Violet JiraThe University of Mississippi is beginning the construction of The Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation. Situated in the university’s Science District, with sides facing both the grove and All-American Drive, the 202,000-square-foot building is the largest single construction project on the Oxford campus, to date.
Jim and Thomas Duff, for whom the center is named, United States Senator Roger Wicker, Chancellor Glenn Boyce and other university leaders ceremonially broke ground on the project Oct. 29. In the October 2021 edition of “At the Flagship,” Boyce emphasized the benefits of the new center.
“The Duff Center will be a major enhancement to our campus — it’s the single largest building project ever on the Oxford campus, and it will become a transformative resource for science and math education for our students,” he said.
The center will include biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering and physics labs, as well as lecture halls. The center will also include several common areas for students to study, a food service area and a science, technology, engineering and math tutoring center.
The center will include an outdoor area commemorating author William Faulkner and his legacy. The university’s old power plant, where William Faulkner wrote one of his most famous novels, “As I Lay Dying,” was situated on the site where the Duff Center is being built.
With major donations from Jim and Thomas Duff, the Gertrude C. Ford foundation and other supporters, the project will cost $175 million, with $135 million going towards construction expenses.
No anticipated completion date has been announced.
