UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 17, Page 1
February 3, 1994
$2M NSF grant to begin Brown lab renovations

     The University has received a $2 million grant from the National
Science Foundation (NSF) to be used for the renovation of Brown Laboratory,
the primary home of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
University President David P. Roselle announced Jan. 25.
     The University's grant is the largest ever made under the NSF's
Academic Research Infrastructure Program to help modernize research
facilities. In all, $37.1 million was distributed this year to 56 colleges
and universities nationally, with individual grants ranging from $100,000
to $2 million. More than 180 institutions submitted proposals. Funds
awarded under this program are to be matched by the institutions, as well
as by support from state and local governments and the private sector.
     "We are especially pleased to receive this grant-the maximum allowed
under this program," Roselle said. "Receiving a grant of this magnitude in
such a highly competitive arena is a signal honor, an honor that clearly
demonstrates the respect our chemistry program is accorded.
     "At the same time, this grant builds on the successful 'Excellence in
Chemical Education' campaign, which was begun in 1990 to raise $13 million
for the construction of the new Lammot du Pont Laboratory, a
state-of-the-art facility that dramatically enhances the offerings of the
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
     Gifts to this campaign from the Longwood Foundation, the Crystal
Trust, the DuPont Co. and other key individuals and corporations were
clearly instrumental in NSF's decision to award this grant to the
University of Delaware," Roselle said.
     Roselle also thanked Delaware's congressional delegation-U.S. Sens.
Joseph R. Biden Jr. and William V. Roth, U.S. Rep. Michael Castle and Gov.
Thomas Carper-for their assistance in making the award a reality.
     "This project is crucial as the Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry works to enhance education for the next generation of chemists
and to attract outstanding new scholars and teachers to the faculty," Jean
Futrell, Willis F. Harrington Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and
chairperson of the department, said.
     Brown Laboratory opened in 1936 and has not been renovated since 1970,
Futrell said. "The building is in critical need of modernization.
     "The practice of chemistry is quite different today from what it was
some 50 years ago," Futrell explained. "When Brown Lab opened, no one could
have predicted the needs of research laboratories today. The invention of
the laser, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, organic mass spectroscopy,
surface chemistry, atomic force microscopy and digital computers could not
have been foretold, and the need for machine shops, electronics shops and
central instrumentation support facilities could scarcely have been
imagined. Less than 10 percent of the technologies in use in chemical
practice today had been invented when Brown Lab was built."
     The NSF grant will be used for renovation of the south wing of Brown
Laboratory, as the first phase in a four-step plan for renovation of all
the department's research and teaching facilities. The total cost of the
south wing renovation is $6.2 million. The remaining $4.2 million comes
from the state and private sources, Roselle said.
     In all, the four-step, phased renovation will cost $25 million. Most
of the amount is expected to be raised from the private sector, Roselle
said.
     The first phase of the renovation supported by NSF will affect the
four-story south wing, which includes approximately 30,000 square feet of
predominantly laboratory space, plus organic chemistry teaching
laboratories. The completed project will provide central receiving space, a
chemical storeroom and electronics shop on the ground floor, with the
remaining two floors devoted entirely to research, including offices for
research personnel. The top floor will provide primarily synthesis
laboratories, while the first floor will be devoted to
instrumentation-intensive research.
     The renovation will provide laboratories and research support spaces
constructed to the same functional and safety standards, including
handicapped access, as the recently dedicated Lammot du Pont Laboratory.
When completed, half of the chemistry and biochemistry faculty and students
will be located in state-of-the-art facilities.
     For the project, the exterior architecture of Brown Laboratory will
not be altered, and the main part of the original roof will be preserved.
Replacement windows will match the appearances of those removed.
     When this project is completed, research labs that are currently
unusable 20 to 40 percent of the time because of facility limitations will
be fully operational as sophisticated facilities, Futrell said. It is
estimated that the remodeled laboratories will be able to accommodate up to
twice as many research personnel.
     Additionally, by providing fiber optic linkages of labs, offices and
instruments, the renovation will markedly affect the efficient use and
sharing of current resource capabilities within the department. Modern
handling of toxic chemicals and full use of sophisticated instrumentation
also will be possible in this area of Brown Laboratory.
     The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of
Delaware is one of the outstanding undergraduate and graduate programs in
the College of Arts and Science. It consists of 33 full-time faculty
members, 123 graduate students and 301 undergraduate chemistry,
biochemistry, and chemical education majors and 18 post-doctoral research
associates.
     The department is nationally recognized for its leadership in
undergraduate education and its research leadership in mass spectrometry,
electrochemistry, and surface chemistry. An environmental chemistry
initiative is currently being undertaken in collaboration with the College
of Marine Studies.
     The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of the
federal government established in 1950 to promote and advance scientific
progress in the United States. NSF accomplishes its mission primarily by
competitively awarding grants to educational institutions for research and
education in the sciences, mathematics and engineering.