MadLabs

Dakota State University

On August 20, 2017, as DSU celebrated the dedication of its newest building, the Beacom Institute of Technology, the donors who made that facility possible announced what would become the largest single gift to higher education in South Dakota. PREMIER Bankcard CEO Miles Beacom (’81) and his wife Lisa joined philanthropist and First PREMIER Bank and PREMIER Bankcard founder, T. Denny Sanford, in gifting the university $30 million to expand the school’s cyber programs and build an advanced research facility to be known as Madison Cyber Labs (MadLabs).

• Recognizing the Beacoms’ and Mr. Sanford’s generosity would impact more than education, then South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard pledged an additional $10 million in State Future Funds.
• Dakota State University also committed to raising an additional $20 million from federal sources, private donors and cybersecurity industry leaders — making August 20, 2017, a $60 million day for DSU.

• October 3, 2019 - Madison city and state leaders, former South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard and U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson joined Dakota State University officials for the grand opening of MadLabs.
• MadLabs houses 14 labs for computer sciences and cybersecurity research and development.
• It also contains a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) for highly classified cyber operations for the federal government and private sector partners.