St. Thomas University will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for its new Gus Machado School of Business Complex.
The ceremony will be held at 12:15 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 24, at the future site of the new building, across the Saint Anthony Chapel on campus.
The new complex will have state-of-the-art classrooms with a robust technology infrastructure. It will include a trading room and a global conference auditorium. Housed in it will be the Center for Cybersecurity; the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; the Center for Sports Administration; and the Center for Trade and Logistics. The Gus Machado School of Business offers 21 different undergraduate degrees and 27 different graduate degrees.
Speakers include Msgr. Franklyn Casale, president of St. Thomas University; Gus and Lilliam Machado, South Florida business leaders and entrepreneurs; Jorge Rico, trustee and co-chair of the Gus Machado School of Business Advisory Board; and Dr. Somnath Bhattacharya, dean of the Gus Machado School of Business.
Gus Machado, a well-respected South Florida business leader and entrepreneur, generously gave the naming gift that makes this new building complex possible. Machado came from Cuba as a young man, became an American citizen, and worked hard to build an auto dealership company. He and his wife Lilliam gave the gift because they want to support the success of young people who come from modest backgrounds.
St. Thomas expects the new building to open in a year and a half.
