Private Giving
Penn State Intercom......November 8, 2001

$1.6 million given by alumni
for Life Sciences Building

Efforts to raise private funds for a new Life Sciences Building received an important boost in the form of three recent gifts totaling $1.6 million. University alumnus Verne Willaman and his wife Betty committed $1 million; alumni A.M. "Don" and Marion MacKinnon gave $500,000; and alumni Woodrow Hoch and his sister, Sylvia Hoch, each gave $50,000.

The Life Sciences Building will house interdisciplinary teaching and research activities related to fields as diverse as plant biology, neuroscience and molecular toxicology. Years of steady growth in enrollment have resulted in about 5,000 University students pursuing a variety of life science majors across several academic colleges.

In addition, the Life Sciences Consortium, formed in 1995, now includes about 500 faculty representing seven academic colleges. The consortium aims to encourage research alliances across disciplinary boundaries and develop new approaches to applications of basic science.

Verne Willaman, a longtime donor to the Eberly College of Science, graduated from the University in 1951. He retired as an executive with Johnson and Johnson, the worldwide health products company, after 33 years of service. He has held a number of volunteer fund-raising leadership positions with the University.

Don and Marion MacKinnon are members of the University's class of 1948. Don MacKinnon retired as president and chief operating officer of Ciba-

Geigy Pharmaceuticals in 1986. The MacKinnons' previous philanthropy has included gifts to the University Libraries and the College of Engineering.

Woodrow Hoch is a 1942 University graduate in chemistry. He retired as president of the Viscosity Oil Co., now part of Pennzoil. Sylvia Hoch graduated from Penn State in 1946 with a bachelor's degree in home economics and worked for many years as a dietician with the Veterans Administration.

The 152,000-square-foot Life Sciences Building is expected to cost
$44 million. It will be located along Shortlidge Road between the Thomas Building and Eisenhower Auditorium on the University Park campus. University funds will provide $29 million, and the University is aiming to secure the remaining $15 million from private donations.

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