Dozens of construction workers, community members, and Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) faculty and staff gathered on a brisk fall afternoon to celebrate building toward the future while observing a historic tradition — signing a beam to mark a major construction milestone.

The beam-signing ceremony commemorated the completion of the frame for the GSE’s new building at 505 Lasuen Mall while honoring the work done by the construction team. At the event, everyone present was able to sign their names onto the final beam or, as was the case with some of the building’s key donors, have a sticker with their signature affixed to it.

“This building is a testament to incredible teamwork,” said GSE Dean Dan Schwartz at the ceremony, acknowledging Stanford Land, Buildings & Real Estate; the construction firm McCarthy Building Companies; William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.; and CAW Architects. “And of course we’ve got the steelworkers who put this thing together,” he said. “It’s an amazing structure made in perfect time, with perfect joints and no mishaps.” 

Schwartz made a special shout-out to former GSE Dean Deborah Stipek, who was an early advocate for the project and attended the ceremony. “Buildings are not the legacies of deans, but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some of the credit,” he said.

The new building broke ground in March and is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2025. It’s part of a larger GSE project that includes the renovation of two historic buildings—the existing education building and the Barnum Center—that will all together create 150,000 square feet of research, teaching, convening, and community spaces. 

“I can’t thank you enough for the work you’ve done for one of the single most important levers for human prosperity — that is, education,” Schwartz said to construction workers. “This building is going to support state-of-the-art research, teaching, convening, and teamwork.”