Funded by private contributions, the Riggs Alumni Center is the alumni's gift to their alma mater, which was led by the building's namesake, the late SAMUEL RIGGS IV '50. Riggs' early investment in an idea to construct a building dedicated solely to Terrapin alumni turned the center from a dream to reality. A descendent of one of Maryland's most venerable families, Samuel Riggs IV possessed the traits of a philanthropist: a deep respect for history and tradition and an ability to identify promise. When he gave the first leadership gift toward a new alumni center at the University of Maryland, Riggs signaled his belief that the alumni center would create new opportunities for the university and its nearly quarter-million graduates.

Securing HUGH NEWELL JACOBSEN '51, '93 (HONORARY DOCTORATE) as architect for the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center assured that the university would meet its goal to have one of the finest alumni centers in the nation. Jacobsen is the winner of more than 110 national and international architectural awards. Not only is the Riggs Alumni Center a Hugh Newell Jacobsen signature design, it is also a project that Jacobsen considers one of his greatest.

“I was very honored to be selected as architect by my alma mater,” says Jacobsen, who was named one of the top 100 architects in the world by Architectural Digest in 2000. “I am more than proud.”

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, one of the university’s most loyal corporate partners, constructed the Riggs Alumni Center under the guidance of longtime friend Willard Hackerman and alumni Chuck Irish ’52 and Richard Vogel ’72, ’82 M.B.A. Their involvement adds to the feeling that building the center was a labor of love.