The University of Montana in Missoula has announced a $10 million gift from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation to expand the university's College of Education.

The university will use the gift to build an addition to the Phyllis J. Washington Education Center, which houses its education and human sciences programs. Expected to be completed by the end of 2018, the three-story addition will provide 35,000 square feet of instructional and collaborative space, including a five-hundred-seat auditorium; clinical labs for a counselor education program; new spaces for the Montana Digital Academy; and two preschool classrooms with observation rooms, seminar spaces, an outdoor play yard, and an "inspiration" lab.

The Washington Foundation helped create the first addition to the center, which was completed in 2009 and named in honor of Phyllis Washington. Since then, student enrollment at the college has grown significantly.

"We could not be more proud to have Dennis and Phyllis Washington as our allies in building an exceptional college for education and human sciences," said UM president Sheila Stearns. "They epitomize the Montana ethic of working hard, earning success, and giving back to build a stronger Montana."