Kent, OHIO – A beam signing ceremony allowed donors, Kent State University leaders and the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s National Advisory Board to sign what will be the final beam placed in Crawford Hall.
During a commemorative event on April 20, special guests had the opportunity to sign the beam, which is expected to be placed in June during a topping out ceremony.
Kent State President Todd Diacon and Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship Dean Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D., provided remarks prior to the signing ceremony.
“All of us are beaming today because of the Ambassador’s generosity, all of your generosity and all of your leadership and of course, the leadership of Dean Spake,” Diacon said. “It’s an honor to be here, and I very much appreciate all that you do for Kent State.”
The Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship and Crawford Hall were named in honor of Ambassador Edward F. Crawford and his family, who provided the largest single philanthropic gift in Kent State history to enable the construction of this building. Kent State officially broke ground on Crawford Hall in March 2022 and the building is expected to be completed in 2024.
The four-story Crawford Hall will include active learning classrooms, an entrepreneurship lab, a business analytics lab, behavioral research hub, sales labs, trading lab, global forum, business theatre and student success center. Crawford Hall will be one of the largest buildings on any Kent State campus to house an academic program and will provide approximately 50% more square footage than the existing structure.
About Kent State University’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship
Kent State University’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship is among the fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide to obtain dual accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in both business and accounting. The college offers 11 undergraduate majors, 14 minors, and an undergraduate Professional Sales Certificate; MBA; master’s degrees in accounting, business analytics and economics; four graduate certificates and a Ph.D. program. For more information about Kent State’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, visit www.kent.edu/crawford.