University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 28, April 24

           DuPont donates $50,000 for business research lab
                                   
     Plans for a new marketing and management research
laboratory at the University of Delaware- made possible by a
$50,000 gift from the DuPont Co.- signal an "exciting new
era" for the College of Business and Economics and for the
state of Delaware, UD President David P. Roselle said today.
     "Some of the nation's leading marketing and management
researchers are based in Delaware, within our College of
Business and Economics," Roselle said. "Through the
generosity of the DuPont Co., that research capability will
receive the national recognition it deserves. Our business
education and workplace training programs already enjoy a
reputation for excellence, but our equally strong business
research programs have traditionally been less visible."
     The DuPont Co. gift "will allow us to expand and
enhance business research, giving our graduates a leg up on
the competition and resulting in greater interaction between
business faculty and local executives," he said.
     To be located in the newly renovated Purnell Hall, the
DuPont Marketing and Organizational Sciences Laboratory will
feature multimedia technologies for videotaping focus groups
as well as individual and team performances, said Dana J.
Johnson, dean of the University's B&E college. Researchers
and students in the 2,000-square-foot laboratory will be
linked to the World Wide Web through computer terminals
equipped with U-Discover!, the University's award-winning
campus network, she added.
     "DuPont's support will provide us with many wonderful
opportunities," Johnson said. "The new laboratory will
result in increased faculty research and productivity, and
it will give students a chance to study real-world problems
in an authentic environment, with guidance from
knowledgeable business partners."
     The facility will benefit industry as well as the
University, said Dave Berlien, college relations and
recruitment manager at the DuPont Co. "By supporting
University research, we can leverage our resources, to stay
at the cutting-edge of operational efficiency," Berlien
added.
     The laboratory is the latest of many improvements now
under way in the College of Business and Economics, Roselle
said. Extensive renovations to Purnell Hall, at the corner
of Amstel Avenue and Orchard Road, should be completed next
spring. By fall 1997, a second-story bridge over Orchard
Road will connect Purnell with MBNA America Hall, a 45,000-
square-foot facility featuring faculty offices surrounding
an atrium meeting space, four case-study classrooms and
formal conference rooms.
                                          -Ginger Pinholster