Brown’s campus is always evolving. Alongside our historic buildings, which hold centuries of Brunonian history, there is always new growth and innovation driving us into the future.
Philanthropy plays a major role in these campus investments. Just within this past year, donor-funded projects have created new spaces for student life and state-of-the-art facilities for research, scholarship, and athletics and wellness.
Two different kinds of performance spaces open to enhance student life
Simmons Quad is now home to the Stephen Sondheim Amphitheater, a terraced seating area for performances, gatherings, and everyday life on campus. The amphitheater was completed in October 2025—and while it took just five months of construction, it actually fulfilled a vision more than 120 years in the making, building on the original architect’s 1901 plan for the quad.
The renovation was enabled by a generous gift from Marty Granoff LHD’06 hon., P’93 and Perry Granoff LHD’24 hon., P’93, who have long championed the arts at Brown. In recognition of the Granoffs’ gift to support the project, Brown named it after the legendary late composer who was a close family friend of the Granoffs.
As part of the project, Simmons Quad also underwent accessibility upgrades, making navigating through the outdoor space easier for community members with physical disabilities.
In January 2026, Brown’s new 76,000-square-foot indoor turf facility, Penner Field House, opened its doors. Now, student-athletes have a year-round space for high-performance athletic training, and more campus community members can engage in club sports, intramural activities, and wellness initiatives.
It was named in recognition of a generous gift from the Penner Family Foundation, which is led by Brown parents Carrie Walton Penner P’22, P’24, P’27 and Greg Penner P’22, P’24, P’27. A dedication event held during Reunion Weekend 2026 celebrated the opening and brought together supporters of the project.
Transformative renovations create room for new possibilities
The Galen V. Henderson Admission Welcome Center opened in November 2025, offering a dynamic new space for prospective students and their families to learn about Brown.
The new center is a result of a donor-funded renovation project that transformed the first floor of historic Manning Hall. It introduces life at Brown through vibrant photography, digital displays, interactive elements, opportunities to learn about the academic experience, and much more.
The center is named after Galen V. Henderson MD’93, a longtime supporter of Brown who was the first Brown medical school graduate to become president of the Brown Alumni Association and to be appointed to the Corporation.
Pembroke Hall renovations finished in October 2025, reopening as the newly-renovated, centralized home of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.
The renovation, which was funded by Shauna M. Stark ’76 P’10, modernized the building, while also preserving its historic character. The center now has a kitchen, lounge, exhibition area, archive storage and workspace, and a reading room. The multipurpose event space features enhanced acoustics and audiovisual systems and lighting. And significant upgrades were made to the Pembroke Center Archives, which houses collections related to its mission of advancing the capacity for research and teaching on women, gender, and feminist scholarship.
A full-scale renovation of Prince Lab in the School of Engineering kicked off during the spring 2026 semester, with an anticipated completion date of December 2027. The reimagined space will be named the Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub.
A generous gift from the Lassonde Family Foundation, which is led by Pierre Lassonde PEMBA’18 AM’24, GP’24, P’27, launched the project. The renovation is also supported by other donors, including Richard Yen ’53, a champion for engineering education.
An integral part of Brown’s interconnected engineering complex, the Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub will encompass 59,000 square feet of collaborative space, including an upgraded Brown Design Workshop. It will support a wide range of activities, from coursework and independent projects to entrepreneurial ventures and applied research.
Building a future home for cutting-edge research and impact
In the Jewelry District, construction continues on the William A. and Ami Kuan Danoff Life Sciences Laboratories—an integrated life sciences research facility that will be used for groundbreaking research in aging, immunity, environmental oncology, brain science, and more.
Danoff Labs construction met significant infrastructure milestones this year, including completing the building facade and shifting to interior environments.
Named in recognition of a generous gift from William Danoff P’23 and Ami Kuan Danoff P’23, Danoff Labs is expected to be completed in spring 2027. It will be the largest academic laboratory building in Rhode Island and will be powered 100% by renewable electricity, making it one of the first net-zero lab constructions in New England.