GW used a $2.5 million alumni donation to upgrade technology and workspaces in Duquès Hall, according to a release last week.

The release states that in October 2022, Henry “Ric” and Dawn Duquès donated $2.5 million for physical updates to classrooms and technology upgrades to their namesake hall on 22nd Street, which houses the GW School of Business. The gift added the Duquès Family Instructional Innovation Studio, which students can use to make multimedia content like podcasts and videos, “enhanced technology” and workspaces to Duquès Hall’s sixth floor, and updates to the entrance foyer.

“The Duquès family is once again providing philanthropic funding needed to make the necessary building upgrades that will greatly enhance our students’ experience,” Anuj Mehrotra, the dean of GWSB, said in the release.

Ric and Dawn Duquès donated $5 million to GW in 2002 at their daughter’s graduation from the University, which funded the initial construction of Duquès Hall as an extension of Funger Hall. The more than $50 million construction project moved the business school from the Hall of Government to Duquès when the building opened in 2006.

Dawn Duquès previously served as a member of the National Council for the Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Ric Duquès is a member of GW’s monumental alumni and is a trustee emeritus. He attended GW on a four-year basketball scholarship.

“I never paid for anything connected to George Washington,” Duquès said in the release. “So, I thought, I need to find a way to give back.”