It was a celebration today at Siena College, which has received the largest one-time gift in its history.
It was a surprise donation for the private Loudonville college. And it was a big one.
A Siena graduate came forward and said his company would fully fund a $35 million dollar project expanding Siena’s science complex. Nobel Hall is being named after Das and Nipa Nobel, who head Texas-based tech consulting business MTX Group.
Nobel graduated from Siena in 2006 with a bachelor of science degree in computer science and went on to found MTX, which went on to develop vaccine management platforms for three of the country's biggest cities — New York, Chicago, and Houston. He addressed students during the announcement.
“I came from Bangladesh, at the age of 15, in 1996," said Nobel. "There was a lot of uncertainty in my journey, just as you're going through your journey as well. But I do know that we have an amazing foundation that starts with our staff, the faculty members, and all of you, random applause for all of you and our faculty members. You know that, that things may seem uncertain at times. You will figure things out. Just take one day at a time and make a positive impact in people. No doubt you're going to go through adversities in life, as we have all gone through in the last 18 months. It's how you choose to respond to adversities [that] defines your story.”
The Nobels’ donation will fully fund the expansion of Siena’s science complex with the construction of Nobel Hall and the renovation and expansion of Roger Bacon Hall. Nipa Nobel says she and Das fully support Siena’s approach to creating future leaders. She adds Das always told her the Siena community is like family.
“And what I came to understand that is a special place with a special mission," Nobel said. "And since Das graduated from Siena, he always wanted to give back, and over the last few years his dream became my dream.”
College President Chris Gibson says the Nobels' gift is the largest one-time donation in Siena’s history and is one of the most substantial private donations ever made to a college or a university in New York. He directed his remarks toward Das.
“When we first met about this possibility about six months ago, you know, you told us dream big, dream big," Gibson said. "And that really, frankly caused us to go back and take another look at our plans. And realize is realized we needed to do more on that and was really that inspiration in front. And what you may not know, is what we initially talked about was a pledge of $25 million. And based on his aspirational comments, we went back and really had a reach goal for this complex, the science complex. We went back down to Das and said, ‘Das, we did what you asked us to do. It's gonna cost 10 more million bucks.’ He said ‘absolutely.’”
Groundbreaking for Nobel hall is set to take place next fall and construction is to be completed in 2024.
