Jonsson Engineering Center

The Jonsson Engineering Center (often simply referred to as the JEC), is home to the School of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. It is named for J. Erik Jonsson and was dedicated on 7 October 1977.

J. Erik Jonsson graduated from Rensselaer in 1922. He was a co-founder of Texas Instruments, former mayor of Dallas, TX, and one of Rensselaer's most generous benefactors. The Jonsson-Rowland Science Center, for which he provided funding, opened on the Rensselaer campus in 1961. It shares his name with that of Henry A. Rowland, Class of 1870, physicist and first president of the American Physical Society. [1] Jonsson provided $2,600,000 toward the construction of the Jonsson Engineering Center. [2]

In February 1974 plans for a new engineering center were made public. An analysis of the Russell Sage Laboratory, Troy Building and Ricketts Building was made by the firm of Levatich, Miller & Hoffman (Peter S. Levatich, Class of 1955). They recommended two options:

In the spring of 1974, the first option was approved and the Troy Building was scheduled for demolition during the summer. In June 1974, the Board of Trustees considered the situation and decided to build a brand new building between the Greene Building and the Communication Center, which is now known as the Darrin Communications Center. In the Fall of 1974, a model of the new seven story engineering center was presented. [3]

On 4 March 1975, the initial cost estimate for the building was $11,808,100. Jonsson provided $2,600,000 and the New York State Dormitory Fund provided some funds. A thirty year bond was taken to cover most of the cost, which resulted in annual payments by Rensselaer of $202,000. [4] The final cost of the building was $17,800,000.[5]

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