- Established as a cancer research center with funds from a grant of the Eugene C. Eppley Foundation, the first building was dedicated in 1963 and named the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer & Allied Diseases.
- The original building included six floors and 50,000 square feet of laboratory and office space.
- In 1973, the Eppley Hall of Science addition was completed, providing an additional 30,000 square feet of space.
- A four-floor addition on top of the Eppley Hall of Science was completed in 1993, adding almost 48,000 square feet of new research space.
- Eppley was a hotel entrepreneur whose business interests extended throughout the Midwest. The Eppley Foundation was founded to further his interest in assisting in community development.
- The Institute building underwent a complete renovation costing $11.9 million and was made possible by a legislative bill, LB605, passed in 2006 to provide matching state funds to upgrade buildings on all four campuses of the University of Nebraska system and an $8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
