Gustavus Adolphus receives $25 million gift

The largest donation Gustavus Adolphus College has ever received will pay for about a third of a major overhaul of the private school's 53-year-old science building.

The St. Peter, Minn., college received a $25 million gift Monday dedicated to the new $65 million Alfred Nobel Hall of Science currently in the planning stages.

Previously, the largest donation was $16 million in 2011 from a Twin Cities couple, who wished to remain anonymous. Both were Gustavus Adolphus graduates.

Gustavus' vice president of marketing and communications Tim Kennedy called it a "cornerstone" donation in a fundraising campaign that's taken several years and is set to wrap up this fall.

"The renovation and extension will include a theater that will join our current fine arts building which will add to the combination of the sciences and the theater," Kennedy said.

A Twin Cities family of three Gustavus graduates made the anonymous gift.

The Nobel Hall of Science was built in 1962 and serves 50 percent of incoming freshmen who take introductory science courses. Gustavus Adolphus has 2,400 students and 25 percent will graduate with science degrees.