A new administrative office complex at Kansas University’s Learned Hall will be named in honor of three KU alumni who founded the Kansas City-based international Black & Veatch engineering firm.

The Veatch-Robinson Complex, which will be the home of the KU Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering offices, will honor the careers of the late Nathan Thomas “Tom” Veatch Jr., co-founder of Black & Veatch, and Thomas B. Robinson and John H. “Jack” Robinson, both former Black & Veatch board chairmen.

Veatch was a 1909 civil engineering graduate who received a master’s civil engineering in 1929. Thomas Robinson was a 1939 civil engineering graduate. And Jack Robinson was a 1949 civil engineering graduate.

Construction on the complex began in July on what was the second-floor roof of Learned Hall at 15th Street and Naismith Drive. The complex, expected to be completed by December, will include faculty offices, a conference room and administrative office space for the department.

A total of $600,000 has been donated to the KU Endowment Association to fund the complex. Jane Veatch Barber, a 1942 KU graduate and a daughter of Tom Veatch Jr., pledged $200,000 for the project. Tom Robinson, who is a nephew of Tom Veatch, also pledged $200,000. An additional $200,000 was provided through other Veatch and Robinson family members and friends.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Saturday’s Journal-World.