Bryant University is embarking on a bold new era of excellence and innovation with a significant campus expansion thanks to a generous real estate donation from neighboring Fidelity Investments. The financial services company donated 100 Salem Street, part of their Smithfield corporate campus just across the street from the existing Bryant campus entrance.
The acquisition marks the most significant real estate gift to Bryant University since Earl Tupper gifted his farmland to create Bryant’s Smithfield campus in 1967, and the university moved to Smithfield from its original Providence location.
This generous donation propels Bryant’s Vision 2030 plan forward by reimaging Bryant’s campus to include a state-of-the-art facility to house its top-ranking College of Business, the Graduate Programs office, the Executive Education and Career Accelerator, and the Women’s Leadership Institute. This new facility will also support extracurricular activities and provide gathering space for all Bryant students.
Bryant’s campus expansion, along with Vision 2030 strategic facilities investments, will support innovative learning hubs and enhanced emphasis on experiential learning, data analytics, and the business of health across the entire university and enable greater identification and distinction for the College of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences.
The extended campus bolsters the bold initiatives put forward by Vision 2030, which includes continued investment in academic excellence, deep experiential learning, and Top 1% student outcomes, including high earnings and economic mobility.
Bryant will build out the 250,000-square-foot building to include classrooms, entrepreneurial innovation space, and state-of-the-art labs and engage students in design thinking, professional sales, fintech, AI, and data analytics. The facility will also include faculty and administrative office space and meeting and gathering spaces.
The additional square footage that the campus expansion provides will allow the creation of the "Innovative and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem" initiative that takes ambitious projects from ideation and incubation to venture capital funding. This new Center for Entrepreneurship will enhance collaboration between students, faculty, and industry throughout Rhode Island.