Montana State University will hold a grand opening ceremony for Gianforte Hall, a new building housing computing-related fields including cybersecurity, film, photography and music technologies, at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. The outdoor event is free and open to the public.
Scheduled speakers include Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, MSU President Brock Tessman, College of Arts and Architecture Dean Adams, Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering Dean Christine Foreman, and Gianforte School of Computing Director John Paxton. Guests will be invited to tour the building following the ceremony.
The Gianforte Family Foundation donated $50 million to help fund the three-story structure. Other donors include engineering college alumnus Norm Asbjornson, a 1960 mechanical engineering graduate and namesake of MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, along with Jeff and Lydia Trom, who have ties to MSU through their daughter’s enrollment in the liberal studies program and Jeff’s service on the Gianforte School of Computing Advisory Board. Zoot Enterprises also contributed to the project, which carries a total estimated cost of $53 million.
“Gianforte Hall reflects the extraordinary impact of philanthropy on Montana State University and its students,” said Fran Albrecht, president and CEO of the MSU Alumni Foundation. “We are grateful to the Gianforte Family Foundation, Norm Asbjornson, Jeff and Lydia Trom, Zoot Enterprises and all the donors whose generosity made this transformative facility possible.”
Gianforte served as a guest instructor at MSU in 1997, and he and his wife, Susan, have long been supporters of and donors to the university. “There are a lot of people who deserve thanks for helping Susan and me in the early days of our business,” Gianforte said at the building’s groundbreaking in April 2024. “We’ve been especially grateful for our relationship with MSU.”
Gianforte Hall will house the Gianforte School of Computing, part of the engineering college, along with programs from MSU’s College of Arts and Architecture, including film and photography and music technology. The building includes a film studio and production classrooms, a music technology classroom and a music recording studio, bringing computing and creative disciplines into shared space that officials say is designed to encourage collaboration among students and faculty. Classes begin in the building this fall.
The nearly 58,000-square-foot structure incorporates several sustainability features expected to earn LEED Silver certification, including geothermal systems linked to MSU’s South Campus Energy District that allow interconnected buildings to share thermal energy for heating and cooling. Gianforte Hall is also the university’s first mass timber building, using engineered wood products for its primary structural elements rather than steel or concrete. The building’s cantilevered, sloped roof is topped in white to reflect sunlight and reduce heat absorption.
Classrooms within the building honor computing pioneer Grace Hopper, NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, and Alan Turing, whose work laid the foundation for artificial intelligence.
Hennebery Eddy Architects and Lake Flato Architects designed the building, with Swank Enterprises serving as general contractor.
