URBANA, Ill. – A $45 million gift from a University of Illinois (U of I) alumni will fund the construction of a new U of I Extension building that will serve as an administrative office and a gathering point for statewide Extension and 4-H efforts.

Doris Kelley Christopher, U of I graduate and founder of Pampered Chef, offered the donation for the new building, which will be located on the south end of the Champaign-Urbana campus along Lincoln Avenue.

According to a U of I news release, the Extension Center will serve as a destination portal for visitors to campus featuring pathways, demonstration and teaching gardens, along with outdoor classroom and gathering spaces. The center will provide ready access to high-tech research and education facilities, as well as the U of I Research Park.

Kim Kidwell, dean of the U of I College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), called the Extension Center an ideal addition to the campus community. “This abundantly generous gift will foster more access, more opportunity, and more collaboration among Illinois Extension personnel; university faculty, staff, and students; community members from across Illinois; and stakeholders to work together with commitment and purpose to make the world a better place for everyone,” she said.

According to her biography on the website of the U of I College of ACES Alumni Association, Doris Kelley Christopher graduated with a degree in home economics in 1967. She is best known as the founder and chairman of The Pampered Chef, but is also a director on the University of Illinois Foundation Board and an avid donor to the university.

Her past contributions made possible the Doris Kelley Christopher Hall, which created a welcoming space that brings faculty together across campus, fosters programs focusing on food and family, and serves as the home to The Autism Program (TAP), a resource for families, teachers and other professionals. Christopher has been recognized with the 2012 Torchbearer of the Year Award for her leadership and dedication to ethical business practices by the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, as well as “The Order of Lincoln Medallion,” the highest honor for outstanding achievement the State of Illinois bestows.

“My early career, spent in Extension, exposed me to working with the adult learner,” Christopher said. “Teaching and advising adults on the full gamut of home skills proved to be career-changing for me. I fell in love with teaching adults. That, combined with all I had learned as a home economics student at U of I, came together as the foundation for the Pampered Chef business.

“I am grateful to the university and to Illinois Extension for setting me on the path to love my work for my entire career and I am delighted to see the Extension Center come to life. It will truly provide a wonderful place for U of I Extension to carry on its important work and connection throughout the state and beyond.”

A planned 160-acre arboretum will serve as a “living laboratory” for students from natural resources and plant sciences to fine and applied arts, as well as provide aesthetic natural beauty for passersby. The center will be capable of hosting conferences and include areas for food demonstrations. Regional Extension-4-H offices will continue to serve clients at their current locations.

“Because of this historic gift, the Extension Center will become the hub for Illinois Extension’s mission of translating and transforming discoveries, new knowledge, and technologies created and developed on campus into programs, materials and services that are valuable and relevant to residents of Illinois,” said Illinois Extension Director Shelly Nickols-Richardson. “This visionary gift will allow Illinois Extension to serve generations of future producers, farmers, ranchers, business owners, entrepreneurs, youths, and families and to connect them to world-class research and innovations.”

A tentative ground-breaking ceremony is being planned for the U of I Annual Foundation Weekend in September. The center is projected to open in 2024.

“Doris Kelley Christopher’s generosity has been creating opportunities at this university to help all of us create new and stronger connections with our families and our communities,” said U of I Chancellor Robert J. Jones. “With this new gift, she is once again helping us reimagine how we can bring people together in new ways with lasting impact.”