An Intercontinental Bridge
When Zuhair Fayez arrived at the University of Colorado in the late 1960s, he fell in love at first sight. Looking back on the people and places that helped him find his life’s course, “I didn’t choose CU, it chose me” reflects Fayez’s fond feelings about his alma mater.
In the years since he graduated from CU’s College of Architecture and Planning (CAP), Fayez has continued to support the university that gave him so much. Over the last decade, he has established annual scholarships and encouraged more than 16 Saudi Arabian family members and friends to study at CU including two brothers, a sister and his three children.
Now Fayez, founder of the Middle East’s largest architectural and engineering firm, wants to ensure the future success of his alma mater. As the lead donor for the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Architecture and Planning’s new building, he believes that a new home will bring innovative technology into a place where students can partner on a global scale.
And, thanks to a landmark partnership with the first all-women’s private college in Saudi Arabia, Dar Al-Hekma, Fayez is designing a curriculum that will enable international collaboration for CAP students and faculty. Learning about building issues in a very different culture and forging personal bonds in faraway places, CU’s students and faculty will help that college grow its new architecture school from the ground up. It’s a rare institution that affords students the opportunity to collaborate on projects as far away as the Persian Gulf.
Through his support of CAP scholarships, Dar Al-Hekma, and the new CAP building for the Denver campus, Fayez is ensuring a bright future for architecture and design, here and across the globe.
Click here to support UCD’s College of Architecture and Planning Building Fund.
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