UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 13, Page 1
November 30, 1995
Kresge Foundation gives $500K to Colburn Campaign

     The Kresge Foundation has awarded $500,000 to the University of
Delaware for the renovation and expansion of the Allan P. Colburn
Laboratory Building, home of the UD's nationally ranked Department of
Chemical Engineering. The challenge grant requires the University to
raise an additional $1.38 million in gifts by Nov. 1, 1996.
     The grant will support the University's $22 million renovation
and expansion of the laboratory on the Newark campus. The state of
Delaware has committed $15 million, and the University is raising the
remaining $7 million through private gifts and grants, of which this
latest grant is a part.
     "This grant from The Kresge Foundation provides the University's
alumni and friends with a powerful incentive to complete the Colburn
Campaign by next fall," University President David P. Roselle said.
"The University is deeply grateful to The Kresge Foundation for its
generous and continuing support and encouragement of our efforts. An
earlier grant of $350,000 for our Bob Carpenter Sports and Convocation
Center gave our alumni and friends a rallying point, and we finished
that campaign ahead of schedule and above goal."
     The renovation project, which began in November 1993 is scheduled
for completion next spring. The existing building will have been
completely remodeled and an additional 40,000 square feet of space
will have been added. This is the first significant improvement to
Colburn Laboratory since it opened 28 years ago.
     State-of-the-art laboratory facilities are essential to the
research and teaching efforts of the Department of Chemical
Engineering, consistently ranked among the top 10 in the country.
     The expansion project has two phases. The first phase, completed
this summer, involved extending all four floors of Colburn Laboratory,
to provide laboratory, office and support areas and a major utility
service chase.
     The second phase, now under way, involves the renovation of the
existing laboratories within Colburn Laboratory and the consolidation
of faculty and administrative offices.
     The Kresge Foundation is an independent, private foundation
created by the personal gifts of Sebastian S. Kresge and is not
affiliated with any corporation or organization.
     In 1994, the foundation reviewed 718 proposals and awarded grants
totaling $57,369,686 to 145 organizations in 36 states and the
District of Columbia.
     Grants are made to institutions operating in the areas of higher
education, health and long-term care, arts and humanities, human
services, science and the environment and public affairs.
     The foundation makes grants toward projects involving
construction or renovation of facilities and the purchase of major
capital equipment or real estate. Grant recipients have raised initial
funds toward their respective projects before requesting foundation
assistance. Grants are then made on a challenge basis, requiring the
raising of remaining funds, thereby insuring the completion of the
projects.
     The UD Department of Chemical Engineering, which is a primary
source of external research support for the University, covers all the
classic areas of the discipline, as well as new research and
educational thrusts, such as biochemical engineering, electronic
materials processing, colloid and interfacial science of complex
fluids and advanced computational methods.
     The department faculty, which numbers 22, has established
national and international reputations through their research and
their authorship of widely used textbooks. Five of them are members of
the National Academy of Engineering, and eight are Presidential Young
Investigator Award recipients.
     Currently, 280 undergraduates and 112 graduate students are
enrolled in the department.
                                                          -Beth Thomas