Fresno State’s first viticulture professor is being honored with the naming of the campus viticulture building.

Vincent E. Petrucci founded the Fresno State Viticulture and Enology Research Center in 1985, and served as the director until he retired in 1993. He died December 2016.

The California State University (CSU) Trustees approved the naming on Tuesday, according to to a university news release. Petrucci is known for raising more than $1.5 million for the viticulture building which includes teaching and research laboratories, a discipline-centered library and research center.

“His extraordinary work transformed the lives of thousands of students at Fresno State and influenced an entire grape-growing and winemaking industry,” Fresno State President Dr. Joseph Castro said in a news release.

The professor emeritus was awarded an honorary doctorate of science by the CSU in 1994.

He helped establish the viticulture and enology department, and in 1997, Fresno State became the first university in the nation with a winery marketing student-produced wines.

“It is a distinct honor to name the viticulture building in [Petrucci’s] memory, given his many enduring contributions to Fresno State and the San Joaquin Valley,” said Dr. Sandra Witte, the dean of Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, in a news release.

Petrucci published papers and books about wine and grape cultivation upon retiring, and he is also the namesake of a student-produced, limited-edition wine introduced in 2016, Petrucci’s Crush.

An official naming ceremony of the Vincent E. Petrucci Building is being planned.