By Sean Nealon, OSU release – CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State University Board of Trustees on Friday approved a $1.64 billion budget to support university operations for the 2023-24 fiscal year and advanced to the construction phase a research complex in Corvallis and a housing project in Newport to serve the university’s Hatfield Marine Science Center. The $213 million, 145,000-square-foot Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex will advance team-based, transdisciplinary research and learning, while harnessing artificial intelligence, computation and materials science to tackle challenges in climate science, sustainability and health. The complex will include a next-generation supercomputer, state-of-the-art clean room and other specialized signature research facilities to facilitate team-based research. OSU is seeking $75 million in state-paid bonds from the 2023 Oregon Legislature to help pay for the complex. More than $100 million in gifts to the OSU Foundation have been made in support of this project, including $50 million from Jen-Hsun Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, and his wife Lori, who both graduated from Oregon State’s College of Engineering. OSU also will contribute university funds to round out funding for the $213 million project forecasted to be completed in winter 2026. The $16.5 million, 34,000-square-foot Newport housing project will accommodate primarily upper division and graduate students as well as Oregon State staff, faculty and other professionals. The housing complex will consist of 77 units, mostly studio-style apartments with a small number of two-bedroom apartments. The site is about three-quarters of a mile from the Hatfield Marine Science Center. The board heard that the university’s self-support units, such as housing and dining services, athletics and other departments, are returning to pre-pandemic levels, with housing at full occupancy and athletics nearing balanced operating budgets. Also on Friday, the board: Received updates on federal legislation, university strategic planning, the 2023 Oregon legislative session and university cooperation with requests by the State of Oregon in its creation of an Elliott State Research Forest that OSU may manage.
