Students, faculty and buildings at the University of Idaho will benefit from the gift given by Tom Alberg and Judi Beck, college officials say.

The largest chunk of the donation — $2 million — will permanently endow a chair for Anthony S. Davis in the College of Natural Resources. Davis directs the college’s Center for Forest Nursery and Seedling Research in Moscow.

An additional $1 million will go toward funding two new graduate fellowships for a decade. Each fellow will spend one year the Oxbow Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment, a nursery in Carnation, Wash., plus a second year of residency on the Moscow campus.

An additional $225,000 will cover construction cost of a new classroom building at the university's Franklin H. Pitkin Forest Nursery in Moscow to support research, teaching and nursery operations. The gift also includes $100,000 for an endowed faculty excellence fund in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

“This generous gift from Tom and Judi is a landmark moment for the University of Idaho,” said Duane Nellis, U of I president. “Their philanthropic kindness and engagement in our continued vision as a national research university is inspiring.”

The couple said they made the gift in part because of the quality of education their son, now a senior, has received at the U of I.