Photo Courtesy of Stantec

What: Joyce Cummings Center
Where: 177 College Ave., Medford
Owner: Tufts University
Built: 2019-2022 

Tufts University’s new Joyce Cummings Center houses 148,000 square feet of interdisciplinary learning space. 

Named for the co-founder of the Cummings Foundation, the 7-story building sits next to the new Medford/Tufts station on the MBTA Green Line Extension. STEM-related programs, the Derby Entrepreneurship Center and the Fletcher School’s executive education and Global Master of Arts programs are based at the property. 

Bill Cummings, founder of Cummings Properties and a Tufts alumnus and trustee, first proposed the project in 1987. The Cummings Foundation funded a portion of the design and construction. 

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings and has awarded more than $320 million to date. 

They Said It: 

“While I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing my name connected with this building, I will forever be incredibly proud to be associated with the life-changing and life-enriching preparation that will take place inside it.” 

— Joyce Cummings, co-founder, Cummings Foundation