As trust in major institutions has declined for decades, external investments in San Diego State University illustrate soaring trust in our university as a partner in academic innovation and regional development.
During the 2022-23 fiscal year, SDSU received nearly $137 million in new philanthropic gifts, and a school record of $192.2 million in external research grants and contracts.
In fact, over the last five years, SDSU has seen research funding from public- and private-sector partners grow an astounding 40%. SDSU Mission Valley now provides the platform to deliver on the trust of those partners and supporters.
Every deliverable thus far in the multi-phased buildout at SDSU Mission Valley — including the Environmental Impact Report, groundbreaking and Snapdragon Stadium — has come on time and on budget, and the project will continue to be built without any reliance on the university’s state appropriation, student tuition or student fees.
And in less than one year of opening the stadium, our university has made back-to-back announcements about future buildout plans at SDSU Mission Valley.
One such announcement was the selection of LPC West to develop the first SDSU Mission Valley Innovation District project. This is the academic core of SDSU Mission Valley. LPC will construct the first three buildings to expand both the educational and workforce opportunities for students, faculty and researchers.
Pending California State University Board of Trustees approval, construction begins next year, with first occupancy in 2026. As demand to enroll at SDSU continues to hit record highs, the construction timeline is as aggressive as it is needed.
SDSU President Adela de la Torre said: “Everything about the innovation district is about enhancing research activity and providing leading-edge educational experiences for our students.”
De la Torre also said that “for the first time since we moved to the Mesa, it will also give our campus the sheer space to grow. Every aspect of this project is designed to support itself financially and to strengthen our collaboration with the private sector so that we can turbocharge our contribution to the region’s economy.”
To understand the boundless potential it will unlock, we need only look to other major U.S. universities with similar models. The Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech, the University of Arizona’s Tech Parks Arizona, the CORTEX Innovation Community anchored by Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Cincinnati’s Cincinnati Innovation District are among them.
The impact of SDSU Mission Valley also enables our researchers to solve some of the most difficult challenges. The ones that seem insurmountable. The ones that may threaten future generations.
Biology professor Rebecca Lewison is heading up a recently announced $10 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to lead the SDSU Center for Community Energy and Environmental Justice.
A different team, led by psychology professor Georg Matt, continues to work out of SDSU’s Center for Tobacco and the Environment to prevent, reduce and eliminate tobacco waste. Other SDSU researchers are working to identify solutions to homelessness and climate resilience, designing safer streets, addressing health disparities and evaluating technology to reduce bias in classrooms, and so much more.
Students see direct educational benefits from this, especially because SDSU involves them in experiential learning through applied research and homegrown entrepreneurship. The same goes for the ongoing community impact, especially as SDSU is already a hub for cooperation between different fields, including fast-growing industries in engineering, life sciences and nursing, to name a few.
SDSU Mission Valley will expand that capacity even further and, over time, help SDSU accommodate enrollment growth by up to 15,000 students. And with a planned 1.6 million square feet of office, technology, laboratory and research space, the innovation district will be an indispensable catalyst for transdisciplinary collaboration, partnership and learning.
SDSU Mission Valley is designed to be a driving force behind innovation, education and social progress. Because it addresses all of those needs — with the needs of students, faculty, staff and the community at its core — it is simultaneously a beacon of hope.
SDSU Mission Valley will continue to deliver on its many promises and on the trust in SDSU our community has demonstrated.
Hala Madanat is SDSU’s vice president for the Division of Research & Innovation, and Gina Jacobs is associate vice president, Mission Valley Development.
