Bill Gates computer laboratory named the "William H. Gates Building" that was designed by architect Frank Gehry. While Microsoft had previously given financial support to the institution, this was the first personal donation received from Gates. The Maxwell Dworkin Laboratory of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is named after the mothers of both Gates and Microsoft President Steven A. Ballmer, both of whom were students (Ballmer was a member of the School's graduating class of 1977, while Gates left his studies for Microsoft), and donated funds for the laboratory's construction. Gates also donated $6 million to
Robert Franklin Gates commissions between 1937 and 1942, Gates also served as an instructor at the University of Florida, Hood College in Frederick, MD, the Washington County Museum of Art in Hagerstown, MD, and the Phillips Gallery Art School in Washington, D.C., where his wife Margaret worked as a secretary. Gates served in World War II as a civilian technician with the U.S. Navy. He made models and designed camouflage patterns. After the war, he studied under Bill Calfee at American University. He joined the faculty there in 1946. Gates worked as the Artist-in-Residence at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq from 1966-1967.