With blue and gray ribbons snipped by eight pairs of golden scissors, Georgetown officially opened its new Rafik B. Hariri Building, home to the McDonough School of Business, on Sept. 16.

Hundreds of business school alumni, faculty, students and supporters turned out to the dedication and blessing of the Hariri Building on Wednesday night.


"This facility will provide a world class home for our school of business," said university President John J. DeGioia. "It will help us continue our transition into a truly global university, and it will help ensure that our students are fully prepared to become capable and compassionate citizens and leaders." VIEW WEBCAST

McDonough school Dean George Daly called the new building "a symbol of the role the business school will play in Georgetown's future." The five-story, 179,000-square-foot building provides more than five times the student activity space than was previously available. The structure features 15 classrooms, 34 breakout rooms, 15 conference rooms, 11 interview rooms, a 400-seat auditorium, two large lounges and 120 faculty offices.

Robert Steers (MSB'75), chair of the McDonough school board of advisers, said the building "makes a strong and clear statement" about the school.

"The Healy-esque stone on the south wing speaks to Georgetown's historic traditions and values," he said, invoking the university's distinctive Healy Hall. "The brick on the north wing is the connection to Leavey (Center), which is where our students hang out today. And the glass core challenges us to be leading edge, outward looking and global in our perspectives."




The $82.5 million Hariri Building is the first major Georgetown facility financed entirely through philanthropy. The Hariri family of Lebanon provided a $20 million capstone gift; and the building is named for the late Rafik Hariri, former Lebanese prime minister. Son Saad Hariri (MSB'92), prime minister-designate of Lebanon, facilitated the gift.

University leaders praised the late Hariri as a man who believed strongly in education for his people. The Hariri Foundation has sponsored 34,000 Lebanese students at universities worldwide, including more than 3,000 at American institutions.

"I don't think it is possible to overstate my father's devotion to education," said Fahad Hariri, the youngest son of the late Hariri. "Rafik Hariri's belief in education was an act of faith in all that is good and constructive in mankind, and his support of education and programs of the Hariri Foundation was the greatest expression of his hope for the future."

Daly declared that all involved with the McDonough School of Business embrace the legacy academic and personal excellence called for with the school's new home.

"It is incumbent on those of us currently entrusted with this opportunity to fully realize that potential, and thereby advance among the world's leading institutions," Daly said. "We want you to know that we understand and enthusiastically accept this obligation. We take it with the utmost seriousness, and we will do our very best to justify the faith that you have placed in us."

This is the first time the McDonough school has operated out of one building since its founding in 1957. Senior Renee Goldman (MSB'10), who has all of her classes in Hariri this semester, welcomes the change.

"Students are already making use of the space in the commons and in the study rooms," Goldman said. "It's really nice to have a space that's ours."

Source: Blue & Gray