BRUNSWICK — Lewiston High School graduate David Roux and his wife, Barbara, have donated $10 million to Bowdoin College to fund a new center for environmental studies, college President Clayton S. Rose announced Tuesday.

“While the building itself is exciting, it is what we envision for the work to be done within it that will be transformative,” Rose said in a memo to Bowdoin College faculty and students. “It will be designed to bring together faculty and students from across disciplines to encourage and facilitate creativity and collaboration about global problems of the environment.”

The building will be called the The Roux Center for the Environment and will be on the corner of Harpswell Road and College Street on the Bowdoin campus. It is expected to open in 2018.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to support Bowdoin and, in particular, to provide an opportunity for the college to build on its many strengths and accomplishments as a leader among liberal arts colleges in the study of environmental issues,” Roux said in a statement. “Our gift is not about the building itself, but rather about the opportunities for the critical work that can be done there.”

Barbara Roux added: “With this support, we are confident Bowdoin will be able to further expand its focus on the environment, educating and motivating a new generation of scientists and policymakers to meet the world’s great environmental challenges.”

David Roux, who graduated from Lewiston High School in 1974, is on the Bowdoin College board of trustees. He graduated from Harvard University and earned his MBA at Harvard Business School. He also has a master’s degree from King’s College, Cambridge University.

He donated money to the Franklin Pasture athletic complex used by Lewiston High School. The football field is named after his father, Donald Roux. Roux also donated money for the baseball field that was named for former Lewiston Superintendent Joseph Deschenes, David Roux’s uncle.