University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere and Rich Linton, vice president for research and graduate studies, led a reception Oct. 21 that officially recognized both the start of construction of the $65 million Lewis Integrative Science Building and the key donors behind the building and the already completed Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories.

Speakers recognized and thanked Mrs. Lewis, whose support along with that of her late husband Robert also had established the Lewis Center for Neuroimaging, and Lokey. Mrs. Lewis was accompanied by her son Jeff; Lokey attended with his partner Joanne Harrington.

Also recognized was UO supporter Bill Swindells, who could not attend. Lariviere noted that Swindells' mother, Irene Gerlinger, was the UO's first woman regent and namesake of Gerlinger Hall, and how Swindells, founder of Willamette Industries, and his late wife, Ann, "have helped build the university as we know it today -- as people will know it for generations to come."

The Lokey Labs and Lewis building, Linton said, represent an investment of more than $100 million in new facilities and equipment for the sciences at the UO.