BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Western Washington University is celebrating its largest-ever planned gift.

The school announced Monday, Aug. 10 that it’s received a $10.5 million commitment from Peter and Judith Hallson.

The contribution will earmark $8 million to establish the school’s first-ever endowed deanship in the College of Science and Engineering under the Hallson’s names.

Once it’s fully funded, the deanship will add opportunities for strengthened student research and faculty-led pilot projects, among other initiatives.

“We are truly grateful to Peter and Judith Hallson for this remarkable generosity, a gift that creates the first endowed deanship at Western,” WWU President Sabah Randhawa said in a news release. “This investment will strengthen the capacity of our College of Science and Engineering to educate future generations of students and advance research and innovation. Thank you, Peter and Judith, for believing in the mission of Western and in the excellence of our faculty and talent of our students.”

The Hallson’s gift will also establish a new scholarship for Blaine High School graduates, a biology research fund and an excellence fund in the College of the Environment. It will also support an endowed professorship supporting the Salish Sea Institute.

Peter Hallson grew up in Blaine and graduated from Western in 1958 before going on to have a career in the water treatment industry, retiring as division president of Nalco Water.

“Charity-wise I was given a lot and helped a lot and probably would not have been successful without the support of lots of people,” Hallson said. “In fact, several professors became like parents to me.”

Western says the Hallsons are longtime donors and have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the school over the past decades.