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John Ed and Isabelle Anthony attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Anthony Timberland Center for Design and Innovation in November 2021. The couple have prepared a new gift named after the future-oriented production facility in honor of Dean Peter McKeith.
John Ed and Isabelle Anthony attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Anthony Timberland Center for Design and Innovation in November 2021. The couple have prepared a new gift named after the future-oriented production facility in honor of Dean Peter McKeith.
University of Arkansas alumnus John Ed Anthony and his wife Isabelle will donate $2.5 million to support the future naming of a facility at the Anthony Timberland Materials Design and Innovation Center in honor of the Peter F. Jones School of Architecture. 2014.
The gift gives the center the future name of the 9,000-square-foot manufacturing space, the Peter Brabson McKeith Manufacturing Workshop and Laboratory II. This will be the center’s largest interior space, occupying most of the first floor and overlooking the production yard.
“We are very grateful to the Anthony family for their generous commitment and vision,” said Mark Ball, vice chancellor for promotions. “They have inspired the collaboration and support of friends and philanthropists to support important sustainable wood and wood design initiatives from Arkansas.”
Much of the university’s support for this newly designed research facility is provided by private funding. In 2018, the Anthony family provided a $7.5 million lead gift to establish a center that will primarily focus on innovation in wood and wood design.
The Anthony Timberlands Center will serve as the home of the Fay Jones School’s timber and graduate program, as well as the hub of its diverse timber and timber programs. It will house the school’s existing design and assembly program, as well as an expanded digital manufacturing lab. The school is a leading proponent of wood innovation and wood design.
This production hall will become the core of the building as the largest and most active space. It will include a large central bay with a nearby metal workshop, seminar room and small digital lab, as well as dedicated space for a large CNC milling machine. The premises will be served by an overhead crane that moves from the inside out on rails to move large equipment and components in and out of the building.
“The manufacturing facility at the heart of the research center is named for Dean Peter McKeith and in recognition of his leadership in the university and nation’s transformation programs,” Power said.
The four-story, 44,800-square-foot center, located in the university’s art and design district, will also include studios, seminar and conference rooms, faculty offices, a small auditorium, and exhibition space for visitors. Construction of the center began in September with an expected completion date in the fall of 2024.
Shortly after McKeith arrived in Arkansas eight years ago, Anthony said, McKeith immediately saw the potential of the state’s forests. The state is almost 57 percent forested, and nearly 12 billion trees of various kinds grow on almost 19 million acres. McKeith describes how large-scale wood products are being used in European construction in other parts of the world, including Finland, by Anthony, founder and chairman of Anthony Timberlands Inc., where McKeith lived and worked for 10 years after his first trip to Finland. Fulbright Scholar.
“He introduced not only me but the entire Arkansas forest products community to concepts that are happening all over the world,” Anthony said. “He did it almost alone. He formed committees, he gave speeches, he put all his passion into calling crowds to understand these innovations that had not yet been introduced in America.”
Anthony knew that these revolutionary building methods were important to America, which had long been dominated by “stick building” using frame lumber cut to size. Although the logging and wood products industry has long flourished in the forest-dominated state, there has never been such a focus on development. In addition, with growing concerns about the environment and the future health of the planet, expanding the use of renewable resources such as forest products is key.
Taken together, it makes the most sense to have a timber research center on the campus of a flagship state university. The university has already begun using durable timber and laminated timber (CLT) in two recent projects: a high-density storage addition for the university library and Adohi Hall, a new residence for living and learning.
Enthusiasm for the research center remains high, Anthony said, despite the COVID-19 pandemic slowing down construction and pushing up costs.
“There are very few timber labs in the US, only two or three are accredited,” Anthony said. “The teaching and development of new methods of timber construction in architecture has not been widely adopted.”
Anthony said that in addition to the initial gift to the new center, he and Isabelle wanted to give a special thanks to McKeith with a second gift for introducing the concept of the nation, the timber industry and the woodworking industry, and the university.
“There was only one person in charge of the project – and it wasn’t me. It was Peter McKeith. I can’t think of a better place to name this building than a design and manufacturing site that will be named after him,” Anthony said. what Isabelle and I want to do because of his influence. The enthusiasm of other donors to join is very encouraging.”
John Ed Anthony holds a BA in Business Administration from the Sam M. Walton School of Business. He served on the Board of Directors of U of A and was inducted into the Arkansas Business School Hall of Fame at Walton College in 2012. He and his wife Isabelle joined the university’s Old Main Tower, an endowment society for the university’s most generous benefactors, and the President’s Society.