MICHAEL GIDALY/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA President Peter Likins shakes hands with Thomas W. Keating, an alumnus and BioSciences building benefactor for the Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology. Keating donated $10 million and the building will be named after him.

A 1962 UA dropout who finally completed his agriculture education degree in 2000 now has a building named after him.

Thomas W. Keating, a UA and Kappa Sigma alumnus, was revealed at Friday's groundbreaking ceremony as the secret $10 million donor for the Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology.

Keating, who started at the university in 1960 and dropped out two years later to take over his family's security guard business, only to return decades later to complete his degree, smiled as President Peter Likins announced that the building would now be called the Thomas W. Keating BioResearch Building.

"This is a very exciting day and I am honored to contribute to this university," Keating said after the ceremony. "There is nobody that bleeds more red and blue than me."

There is nobody that bleeds more red and blue than me. ÷ Thomas W. Keating UA alumnus

Keating requested that his name not be revealed until the groundbreaking ceremony because the first half of his contribution was given when he was still a student in 2000.

"I wanted it to be kept a secret because I didn't want my teachers or anybody treating me differently," Keating said. "Besides, I'm not enormously comfortable with being in the spotlight."

After being prompted by the UA administration, Keating decided to reveal himself in hopes that his donation would cause more people to invest in the future of the UA.

Before Likins' speech, the $65.7 million Keating BioResearch building ÷ along with its neighbors, the $54 million Medical Research building and the $30 million Roy P. Drachman Hall ÷ were all welcomed with red and white fireworks.

Sally Drachman, the wife of the deceased Roy Drachman, accepted a framed picture of the building on his behalf.

The UA Steel Band played before and after the groundbreaking and people crowded North Warren Avenue at the corner of East Mabel Street, looking at the plans for the new buildings.

The 168,000 square-foot Keating BioResearch Building will house biochemists, neuroscientists, respiratory scientists, medicinal chemists, cancer researchers and plant scientists.

Drachman Hall, which will cover 103,000 square feet, will be the permanent home for the College of Public Health that is scattered in 19 locations across campus. It will also provide classroom space for the College of Nursing and the College of Pharmacy.

The MRB will bring together scientists and physicians, studying human health, aging and disease.

"I think this will really help out the university. The professors keep leaving because we have these old, out-dated labs," said Preet Ghuman, a physiology sophomore. "Considering they didn't use much tuition money, this is a great investment."

Most of the money came from the state's $440 million grant for research facilities throughout the state universities while other funding came from private donations.

Likins thanked the numerous state lawmakers who were at the ceremony including Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, Republican Mayor Bob Walkup, Republican City Council member Kathleen Dunbar, as well as Republican state legislators Steve Huffman and Clancy Jayne.

"We had real leadership," Likins said after recognizing the officials. "They really stepped up for us."

The Keating BioResearch building is expected to be completed in December 2005, Drachman hall by June 2005 and the MRB by January 2006.

"This contribution, along with Rio Nuevo, will be a real turning point for Tucson," Walkup said. "It shows that we really care about education and science."