Private
Giving
Penn State Intercom......May
10 , 2001
Leading the WayThe Faculty and Staff Campaign 2001 |
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"Music, scholarship and lifelong learning
are of major importance
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to our family. We believe that they are an integral part of the
University and all three areas are in need of additional funding.
With this in mind, I asked that my monthly payroll deduction be
divided among three areas: the School of Music, the Schreyer Honors
College and Outreach and Cooperative Extension. Our children's college
years were enhanced by these units and with additional funds from
others I hope that they will continue to benefit other students."
Couple gives $2.7 million
for life sciences
The University's efforts to build a new life sciences building have received a major boost from alumnus Paul Berg and his wife, Mildred, who have committed
$1.5 million toward construction of the facility.
Paul Berg is Cahill professor emeritus of cancer research at Stanford University and winner of a Nobel Prize in 1980 for developing a method to map the structure and function of DNA.
The new building will help Penn State meet steadily rising student enrollment in the life sciences and provide more opportunities for research that impacts everyday life.
Planned for a location on Shortlidge Road between Eisenhower Auditorium and the Joab Thomas Building, the facility will house state-of the-art classrooms and research laboratories, as well as offices, meeting and gathering spaces, and a 182-seat auditorium. The construction schedule aims for occupancy in 2003.
The Bergs' gift for the Life Sciences Building is part of a larger commitment that also includes $1.2 million for an endowment that supports undergraduate student research in the life sciences. The Paul and Mildred Berg Undergraduate Research Endowment provides financial aid to Eberly College of Science life sciences majors who also are Schreyer Honors College students conducting research projects in faculty laboratories.
Paul Berg graduated from the University in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. He received a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University in 1952 and joined the Stanford faculty in 1959. At Stanford, he also serves as director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine.
He is widely regarded as a pioneer in the branch of biochemistry known as genetic engineering and chaired the scientific advisory committee for the National Institutes of Health Human Genome Project from 1990 to 1992. Penn State named him a Distinguished Alumnus, the highest recognition it can bestow on one of its graduates, in 1972.
Portlands' gift
endows 2 scholarships
Rene Portland, head coach of the Lady Lion basketball team, and her husband, John Portland, have committed $500,000 to the University to endow two undergraduate scholarships for student-athletes.
The gift is one of the largest ever made nationwide by an athletic coach for scholarships. One scholarship, for captains of the Lady Lions, is named in honor of the Portlands' daughter, Christine M. Portland, who played with her mother's team from 1995 to 1999 and was a captain of the 1998-99 team. The other scholarship, to support student-athletes who play center position for the Lady Lions, is named in honor of Rene Portland's mother, Margaret "Granny" Muth.
To be eligible for either scholarship, students must have outstanding academic records and be proficient in basketball. The scholarships will be awarded for one academic year with the possibility of renewal in subsequent years.
The Portlands' gift supports the University's Grand Destiny capital campaign, part of which includes support from faculty and staff. Since the campaign began in 1996, nearly 50 percent of all University faculty and staff have made gifts to support students, faculty, academic programs and other University needs.
Corporation endows
scholarship at Erie
The Lord Corp. has given $200,000 to Penn State Erie to endow a scholarship honoring Thomas Lord, former chairman of the Lord Corp. board of directors. Although the corporation has given scholarship gifts to national research universities in the past, this is Lord's first endowed scholarship in Erie County.
Two-thirds of the income from the Thomas Lord Scholarship endowment will benefit academically talented students in the areas of engineering, engineering technology and science, and one-third will be given to students in any major offered at Penn State Erie.
Full-time incoming freshmen, currently enrolled students with superior academic records and students who show promise of academic success are eligible to apply for this scholarship. First preference will be given to children of employees of the Lord Corp. Scholarships given in the freshman year are renewable for subsequent years, providing the student remains eligible.
Thomas Lord was one of the first to develop a mount for aircraft engines, and he helped the corporation make the transition from initial entrepreneurial ownership to professional management. He was the son of founder Hugh Lord.
Additional contributions to this scholarship may be made by interested people or organizations. For information, call the Penn State Erie Office of Admissions and Financial Aid at (814) 898-6100 or check the college's Web site at http://www.pserie.psu.edu/.