Thanks to a historic $75 million gift from Board of Trustees Chair Emerita Darlene Marcos Shiley, the University of San Diego is in the process of developing exciting new spaces for students and faculty in the STEM disciplines.
Slated to be built on the north end of the parking lot between Warren Hall (School of Law) and the Pardee Legal Research Center, and adjacent to the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the new three-story facility will feature approximately 70,000 square feet of space.
The building will physically connect engineering and natural sciences programs from the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences, creating more collaboration between students and faculty, and leading to new and innovative solutions to the most challenging scientific and technological issues. A stakeholder committee with representatives from both schools has facilitated focus groups with students, staff and faculty to inform the building’s design.
True to the vision of Mrs. Shiley and her late husband, Donald, the building will catapult USD’s footprint in the STEM space regionally and nationally.
“To me, STEM education in San Diego is a natural,” Shiley said. “Even if it wasn’t for Donald, it would still be a natural. I want to know that we made an imprint — and I think the University of San Diego is the place to do it.”
Spaces will include new labs for biomedical engineering, environmental science, robotics, material sciences and neuroscience — with research and classroom spaces that cross disciplines, majors and areas of study.
There will be spaces dedicated to human cognition, neurophysiology, biomechanics, geospatial analysis and advanced visualization across STEM disciplines. The new facility will also create flexible, collaborative spaces where students can explore and immerse themselves in hands-on learning. There will be multiple maker spaces equipped with 3D printers and laser cutters, a new electronics maker space and a woodshop — designed to be “open-use,” where students can work on class projects or even personal passion projects.
Unique features of the building include a multipurpose theatre for special events and an ecology zone on the roof, where students can study everything from plant growth to solar and wind energy.
“I think the way students learn and faculty members in order teach to be successful in the coming years has to change,” said Chell Roberts, dean of the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering. “And the building promises to create space where hopefully that can happen.”
Construction is slated to begin in May 2026, at the conclusion of the current academic year.
