Miami alumnus Richard McVey donates $20 million for new data science building
Miami University alumnus Richard McVey, founder of leading electronic trading venue MarketAxess, will visit the Oxford campus Monday for the groundbreaking ceremony of the McVey Data Science Building, which is expected to open in 2024.
McVey is funding the project with a $20 million donation. Officials said McVey's gift is one of the top five largest single gifts in Miami's history.
“We are extremely excited for what the future will bring with the Richard M. McVey Data Science Building,” Tom Herbert, senior vice president of university advancement, said in a news release. “Rick’s generosity and passion for helping our students is creating an innovative, collaborative environment that will bring Miami to the front of an increasingly important field.”
McVey, a former men's golf student-athlete, graduated from the university in 1981 with a degree in finance. He worked for J.P. Morgan & Co. for several years before founding MarketAxess in April 2000, according to the website. He has since served as the CEO and chairman of the company, which opens global markets for institutional investors and dealers on an electronic trading platform.
In 2012, McVey was named the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year for financial services. McVey has also been named to the Institutional Investor Tech 40 list 15 times. He was also named to the Philanthropy 50 list by the Chronicle of Philanthropy in 2020, largely due to his $20 million gift to Miami.
"Data science and artificial intelligence are having a profound impact on all sectors of the economy, and especially here at MarketAxess," McVey told Miami University. "The demand for data science skills is growing rapidly in every industry. It is gratifying to help Miami build a distinctive program with this gift, which will increase access to data science programs for Miami students for many decades to come."
The three-story building will house the departments of emerging technology in business and design, statistics and computer science and software engineering. The Center for Analytics and Data Science will also be housed in the new building, which officials said will partner with the Farmer School of Business' department of information systems and analytics.
It is expected to be completed for use in January 2024, according to the university.
Monday's groundbreaking ceremony will take place on the circle between Benton Hall and Withrow Hall near Tallawanda Road at 2 p.m., officials said.