Zillow, the online real estate database, has pledged $5 million to the UW for a second building to expand the University’s high-demand computer science and engineering program. It is the first time the Zillow Group has made a corporate donation. Zillow joins tech titans Amazon, which pledged $10 million, and Microsoft, which pledged $20 million, in supporting the $110 million project.
“Having founded our company in Seattle, we have long benefited from this wealth of talent and are proud to be able to support the expansion of such an extraordinary program,” says Amy Bohutinsky, Zillow Group’s COO.
Because it lacks the space, the University has had to turn away nearly two-thirds of the qualified students wanting to major in computer science. The new building, which is scheduled to open in 2019, would allow the school to double its CSE majors to more than 600 degrees a year.