Lydia B. and William M. Addy ’82 have given the University a major gift to support undergraduate student expansion through naming Addy Hall, a dormitory in Perelman College.
Perelman College is one of two new residential colleges — the other temporarily called “College 8” — that are scheduled to open in time for the 2022–23 academic year, allowing the University to add around 500 more undergraduate students, therefore increasing admissions by approximately 10 percent.
When Lydia and Bill Addy found out about the construction of the new residential hall and the University’s expansion plans, they were happy to help sponsor the project.
“Princeton hasn't expanded in a long time, and there's a lot more great students out there, so it's probably time for Princeton to expand,” Bill Addy said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “Princeton made a difference in my life, and as the University expands, I’m excited that more students will have their own Princeton experience and perhaps one day look back and say, ‘I lived in Addy Hall.’”
Bill Addy graduated from Princeton with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and went on to graduate from Harvard Business School in 1986. He is the founder and executive chairman of ISN Software Corporation, a global contractor and supplier information management company. Together, the Addys co-founded the Addy Foundation in 2015 to improve education and revitalize the community in North Texas.
Within the University, the Addys have set up the Addy/ISN North American Low Carbon Emission Energy Self-Sufficiency Fund and the Addy Fund for Excellence in Engineering, and they helped support the University’s Center for Information Technology Policy.
This year, maintaining a 39-year record of annual University giving, the Addys have used their gift to support the University residential college system.
Lydia Addy commented that residential halls are “a nice foundation for friendships, but also, if you need help. Having a dean right there to help you navigate the labyrinth is really critical to having people feel like [the University] is the right place and settling in faster.”
Structurally, Addy Hall has unique and modern features.
“It's at an interesting part of campus that slopes down, so the dining hall is actually underground,” Bill Addy said. “It's very green. It’s modern. At the bottom of Addy Hall, there's a studio that can be used for [activities like] ceramics or dance, and it looks out onto a courtyard there. We'll have new air-conditioned dorm rooms, study areas, and areas for students to congregate outside of their rooms, so it's going to be a remarkably nice place to live in.”
Bill Addy adds that the location is “fantastic,” noting the residential college’s proximity to athletic and academic facilities.
While new buildings, like Addy Hall, are being added, Lydia Addy reminds students that while “the modern experience is going to be great, it's also pretty cool to live in older buildings, so I wouldn't want anybody to be disappointed [with their residential hall]. It's great to be modern, but the old ones are awesome too.”
“Bill and Lydia Addy embrace service and philanthropy, both in their local community and at Princeton,” University President Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83 wrote in the press release. “We are deeply grateful to Bill and Lydia for their support and its impact on generations of students who will live in Addy Hall.”
Dean of the College Jill Dolan added: “As we write the next chapter in the University’s history and enrich the Princeton experience by inviting a larger number of talented students than ever before, new dormitory construction is essential.”
“Knowing the Addys’ devotion to Princeton and their commitment to service, I am so pleased that future Princetonians will be able to call Addy Hall their home,” she wrote. “‘Addy’ will take its rightful place alongside the names of buildings that have been on this campus for generations.”
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