An Elon University trustee and his wife have donated two gifts that will help with the Love School of Business expansion and other university initiatives.

According to a university release, John R. Hill '76 and his wife, Lesley, will donate $100,000 to the construction of Sankey Hall, the planned expansion of the School of Business. The other gift will be an estate gift to provide "significant funding" to Elon in the future. 

"John’s leadership as a trustee and an alumnus has been essential to building a network of committed alumni that will continue to drive Elon forward long into the future," Elon President Leo Lambert said in a statement. "Elon is a stronger university because of dedicated alumni and friends like John and Lesley Hill."

Sankey Hall will be a three-story, 30,000-square-foot facility built at the north end of the McMichael parking lot. There is not a finalized timeline for construction, according to Owen Covington, director of the Elon University News Bureau. Fundraising for the building is expected to be completed in the spring. 

Hill graduated from Elon with a degree in economics and business. He previously served as president of the Elon Alumni Board. He received Elon's Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award at Homecoming in October.

Hill and his wife created the John R. Hill '76 and Lesley W. Hill Endowed Fund for Engaged Learning in Business, which supports research or other on-campus study, international study or business-related internships. The Hills have also donated gifts in support of scholarships and the Phoenix Club, and the first-floor conference room in the Inman Admissions Welcome Center is named for the Hill family.

“I have spent my entire career in the business world, and I enjoyed my business major at Elon, and that set the foundation for me to move forward,” Hill said in a statement. “Students will be in a wonderful new facility and be able to learn in a state-of-the-art fashion. I think the closer they can get to a real-world experience, the better they’re going to do when they graduate and are out in the business world.”