RICHARD AND PATRICIA LAWSON
COMPUTER SCIENCE BUILDING
Dedicated September 15, 2006
H. Richard Lawson earned the MS in computer science from Purdue in 1968. With his
brother and a third partner, Richard founded Lawson Software in 1975 and oversaw the
company's growth from a small technology consulting company into an international software
giant. In 2006, Purdue awarded Richard an Honorary Doctorate in Science. His wife,
Patricia Lawson, a 1967 graduate of Oklahoma Christian University, is an educator,
community advocate, and philanthropist.
In 2003, the couple's gift of $4.7 million was the largest single private contribution toward
this building, an outstanding facility enabling Purdue to expand the frontiers of computer
science and to play an instrumental role in educating future generations of scientists.
PURDUE
UNIVERSITY
Submitted by: Melissa McCurley