Helen and Peter, ’55, Bing have donated $50 million for Stanford to construct a state-of-the-art concert hall, the University announced October 6. The 900-seat hall will be the venue for live performances presented by Stanford Lively Arts and the department of music, and will provide rehearsal and performance space for student ensembles. It will be located next to the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center as part of a planned performing arts center.

“With this gift—and others we hope will follow—we intend to transform the arts at Stanford and in a 21st-century education,” says art and art history professor Bryan Wolf, who directs the University’s arts initiative.

One day earlier, Jay A. Precourt, ’59, MS ’60, committed $30 million to establish the Precourt Institute for Energy Efficiency. The gift will provide program funds, endow new faculty positions and help support the Environment and Energy Building currently under construction.

“I see the Precourt Institute as an enormous opportunity to move the University, the state and the nation forward on energy-demand issues,” says James L. Sweeney, PhD ’71, a professor of management science and engineering who will serve as the institute’s first director. “Our work should also have international implications, from research and policy to educating and training the education leaders of the future.”