Husband and wife Tom Alberg and Judi Beck of Seattle donated $3.2 million to the University of Idaho, citing the education their son, a senior at the college, has received.

According to the university, the donation covers:

* $2 million for the university's first fully funded endowed chair in perpetuity. Native plant regeneration and silviculture professor Anthony S. Davis is the new Tom Alberg and Judi Beck Chair. Davis directs the UI College of Natural Resources Center for Forest Nursery and Seedling Research in Moscow, Idaho.

* $1 million for two new graduate fellowships for a 10-year period. Each fellow spends one year in residency at the Oxbow Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment, a nursery in Carnation, Wash., and a second year of residency on campus.

* $225,000 covers the cost of constructing a new classroom building at the Franklin H. Pitkin Nursery to support research teaching and nursery operations

* $100,000 creates an endowed faculty excellence fund in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

During a press conference, Davis said the new classroom building would be built of Idaho forest products, continuing the tradition of hands-on learning experience for students and highlighting the importance of stewards of natural resources.

-- Matthew Weaver

Online

www.uidaho.edu/cnr/cfnsr