The University of Washington and Microsoft today expanded their decades-long partnership with the opening of the university’s first-ever, full-time location on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond.
Dedicated to preparing students and professionals to lead responsibly in an era of disruptive technological change, the UW’s location in Redmond will serve as the new permanent home for the UW’s Global Innovation Exchange (GIX), a globally recognized engineering and business institute for emerging and established technology leaders.
Propelled by a $42 million in-kind contribution from Microsoft, the new facilities at GIX will support education, lifelong professional development, and signature thought-leadership events and activities.
Unlike other industry-academia co-location initiatives, where companies might establish a small presence on a university’s campus, this move embeds an academic unit of the UW on Microsoft’s expansive grounds, representing a new partnership model that demonstrates how a public research university can engage deeply with industry while maintaining its academic independence and public purpose.
The 48,500-square-foot site, provided by Microsoft to the university under the terms of a rent-free lease, will provide UW students, faculty, staff and guests with access to scholars, researchers, technologists and business professionals from around the world while operating in close proximity to one of the most dynamic and storied global technology companies.
UW’s presence on the campus demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to student success and higher education in the state of Washington and serves as a one-of-kind talent magnet.
“It’s fitting that this new chapter in the longtime partnership between the UW and Microsoft is such an innovative and novel approach to educating adaptable, ethical leaders, creators and problem solvers,” said UW President Robert Jones. “As we face the complex future of emerging and rapidly evolving technologies, our state, region and world will benefit from the training taking place here at the UW in the heart of the Microsoft campus.”
The combined efforts of the UW and Microsoft through GIX will provide intellectual leadership on the challenging technology issues confronting society and will educate students in an interdisciplinary manner so they can navigate the complex problem solving these issues will require.
Microsoft and the UW see their partnership, embodied in the new location for the UW’s GIX in Redmond, as an opportunity to create a center of gravity for applied learning around responsible technology, leadership and innovation in AI, robotics and other emerging fields.
“GIX’s new headquarters on Microsoft’s Redmond campus is uniquely positioned to bring together world-class research, cutting-edge industry expertise and the next generation of talent under one roof,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair and President. “At a time when AI is transforming how we learn and work, that proximity will create new opportunities for University of Washington students, Microsoft employees and researchers to learn from one another and accelerate innovation.”
Most importantly, the GIX is envisioned as being a model for turning interdisciplinary collaboration into economic opportunity and public benefit for the region.
Altogether, the new location for GIX comprises two floors of dedicated, custom-designed space in the south wing of Building 92 on Microsoft’s West Campus. It includes six classrooms, extensive prototyping facilities, a state-of-the-art distance learning studio, and specialized labs, studios, workshops and collaboration spaces.
“At GIX, we keep people — not technology — as our focus, recognizing that technological change is not an end unto itself. Its value depends on how people use it to create opportunity, strengthen institutions and contribute to broader social progress,” said Sean Carr, executive director and CEO of the UW’s Global Innovation Exchange. “Today, as we begin operating from our amazing new home in Redmond, we can now confidently offer a truly incomparable learning experience that is destined to make our vision a reality.”
Launched in 2017 with foundational support from Microsoft, GIX’s mission is to develop responsible technology leaders through transformative interdisciplinary learning that cultivates sound judgment, technical fluency and an innovative spirit. Through its graduate and professional development programs, GIX supports more than 150 students annually in its flagship Master of Science in Technology Innovation (MSTI) program.
The investment in the facilities at Building 92 builds upon Microsoft’s previous legacy of support for GIX, which includes its founding endowment of $10 million in 2017, and $60 million of in-kind facility improvements and lease payments at the previous GIX location in Bellevue between 2017 and 2023.
As a self-sustaining unit of the UW, GIX does not receive direct, operational funding from the UW or the State of Washington.
For more information, contact David Rey at drey94@uw.edu.