Allender Gift Brings More State-of-the-Art Scientific Equipment to Washington College

Chestertown, MD — Patrick Allender, former Executive Vice President of Danaher Corporation—a Washington, D.C.-based global company specializing in industrial, scientific and professional instrumentation—has donated nearly $40,000 worth of new scientific equipment to Washington College's John S. Toll Science Center. The equipment will be used for research in physics and environmental studies.

The donation by the Allender family—Patrick, wife Deborah and son John—comes on the heels of a similar act of generosity in 2006, when the Allenders donated $30,000 worth of scientific equipment to the College.

The latest Allender gift is making possible the acquisition of a FLUKE Ti-30 Thermal Imager, a Leica Differential Interference Contrast Microscope with fluorescence microscopy capability, and other scientific equipment.

The state-of-the-art Leica microscope can single out disease-carrying parasites in water and sediment analysis. "It's a significant and much-appreciated addition to our scientific tool chest," said Donald Munson, Joseph H. McLain Professor of Environmental Studies, Professor of Biology, and Director of the College's Environmental Studies Program. "The microscope will be used to identify both free-living (non-disease causing) organisms and pathogenic protozoa in water and sediments from both the Chesapeake Bay region and international areas."

The Ti-30 Thermal Imager is a handheld device that generates images of infrared (IR) light emitted by objects. Pointed at any object—a face, a circuit board, a heating duct—the Ti-30 produces a false color image showing IR emission from the object. The colors of the image are calibrated to show temperature, typically with bluer hues showing cooler temperatures (dim IR emission) and yellow to white colors showing higher temperatures (bright IR emission).

"We are very grateful for the Allender family's generosity and we look forward to using the Ti-30 in a number of interesting applications in physics, astronomy and earth science," said Karl Kehm, Assistant Professor of Physics and Earth and Planetary Science at Washington College. "The concept that the physical world around us is glowing in wavelengths that our eyes cannot detect is sometimes difficult for students to accept. The Ti-30 gives us a way to demonstrate this concept directly."

"The Allenders, FLUKE and Leica are enriching the academic experience for students who learn and faculty who perform cutting-edge research in our state-of-the-art John S. Toll Science Center," said Washington College President Baird Tipson. "We are very appreciative."

Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts and sciences college located in historic Chestertown on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, it was the first college chartered in the new nation.

February 4, 2008