Seigle pledges $10 million to alma mater

Elgin-area business tycoon Harry Seigle will donate $10 million to his alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis, to help fund a new building for the school's arts and sciences and law school.

The former chairman of Seigle's Inc., a building supply chain, graduated from Washington University in 1968. Two of his sons and a brother also are alumni.

The $10 million gift is one of the largest in the school's recent fundraising efforts, the university said, and will pay for the bulk of the new facility now under construction on the west end of the Danforth Campus.

"I do it out of a heartfelt affection for Washington University," Seigle said of his donation Wednesday, adding that he hopes the facility's research and education will benefit future generations.

When it opens in fall 2008, the 145,736-square-foot, collegiate gothic-style building will hold 14 classrooms and be known as Harry and Susan Seigle Hall, after the facility's chief benefactor and his wife.

The name is significant, according to school officials, because it is the first academic building on Washington's Danforth Campus that's named after an alumnus living outside of St. Louis.

Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University, said Seigle's $10 million pledge is a significant contribution to the school's future.

"It is an extraordinary show of support," Wrighton said in a statement, adding the Seigles have helped fund several university programs, scholarships and facilities. "We are incredibly fortunate to receive their generous gifts."

Seigle earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Washington University and a law degree from Northwestern University.

He joined the family business in 1974, known as the Elgin Lumber Co. Renamed Seigle's Inc., the business grew into the largest supplier of building materials in the Chicago area.

Seigle's was sold in 2005. He now runs The Elgin Co., a real estate firm.