Countdown Update: College Meets Kresge Foundation Challenge

Chestertown, MD, December 23, 2004 — With eight days remaining to meet its fundraising goal, Washington College has raised 100 percent of the $2.8 million required to secure a $750,000 challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation of Troy, MI, announced last April. The gifts and pledges received will go toward the new 45,000-square-foot John S. Toll Science Center—to be completed by January 1—or for the renovations to the Dunning/Decker Science Complex beginning in early 2005.

“In my first six months as president, it has been my distinct pleasure to witness the generous outpouring of support for this institution, and the dedication of its leadership," said President Baird Tipson. "I look forward to continuing our work together in making Washington College a premier liberal arts college.”

Graduates who have made careers in the field of medicine were asked by trustee Ralph Snyderman '61, M.D., Emeritus Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke University and President and CEO of Duke University Health System, to support the project. Alumni and friends of the late Joseph H. McLain—Washington College alumnus, chemistry professor and president—have already raised nearly $750,000 to name the atrium linking Dunning/Decker Hall to the new Science Center in his honor. In addition, friends of the late Ted Kurze '43, an eminent neurosurgeon credited with pioneering microscopy in surgery, are working to raise funds to name the psychology department's new neuroscience lab in his honor.

“The College is not only receiving major leadership commitments from those who are able to make sizeable gifts, but also contributions from many alumni, parents and friends at whatever level they can afford,” Dr. Tipson added. “This support has been gratifying, and we are very appreciative to all who have given. We thank everyone who has contributed to the effort with a gift, no matter the size, to help us meet this worthy—and urgent—goal.”

Designed to provide a lab-rich environment for supporting new and evolving models for teaching the sciences to undergraduates, the new John S. Toll Science Center and renovated Dunning/Decker Complex will double the size of the College's existing science teaching and research facilities and will be outfitted with state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories for biology, chemistry, environmental studies, physics, psychology, and math and computer science, as well as a vivarium to support psychological research and a greenhouse.

The Kresge Foundation—an independent, private foundation unaffiliated with any corporation or organization—was created in 1924 by Sebastian S. Kresge “to promote the well-being of mankind.” In 2003, the Foundation awarded grants totaling more than $105 million to 145 charitable and nonprofit organizations operating in the areas of higher education, health and long-term care, arts and humanities, human services, science and the environment, and public affairs.

Kresge Foundation Issues $750,000 Challenge Grant For New Washington College Science Center

Chestertown, MD, April 8, 2004 — The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Michigan, has awarded Washington College a challenge grant of $750,000 for its new 45,000-square-foot Science Center, currently under construction. The funds are contingent upon the College raising $2.8 million to support funding for the project by January 1, 2005.

“The grant from The Kresge Foundation represents a major endorsement of the College,” said Jack S. Griswold, chair of the College's Board of Visitors and Governors. “The Kresge Foundation scrupulously examines all aspects of an institution while considering a proposal. Its grant to the College is a ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval' of which we are very proud.”

“This vote of confidence from The Kresge Foundation is tangible evidence that the momentum of our highly successful Campaign for Washington's College is continuing,” said Thomas H. Gale, chair of the Development Committee of the Board of Visitors and Governors.

“Now the challenge for all of us is to build on the momentum of that magnificent effort with this new campaign for the Science Center,” added Gale.

The Campaign for Washington's College, which ended on December 31, 2003, raised $103.4 million—the largest capital campaign in the College's 222-year history and the single largest ever conducted by a Maryland undergraduate college. Funds raised are supporting a range of initiatives, from new faculty chairs, professorships, and academic programs, to scholarships, technology enhancements, new academic research and outreach centers, and new facilities such as the Science Center, which will double the size of Washington College's science teaching and research complex.

Designed to provide a lab-rich environment for supporting new and evolving models for teaching the sciences to undergraduates, the $23-million Science Center will have state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories for biology, chemistry, environmental studies, physics, psychology, and math and computer science, as well as a vivarium to support psychological research and greenhouse on the top story.

Classrooms in the Science Center will follow a new trend in science facilities: small-group instruction rooms equipped with mobile “white boards.” A three-story glass atrium—to be named in honor of the late Washington College president, chemistry professor and alumnus Joseph McLain, Class of 1937—will connect the Center with the existing Dunning-Decker Science Complex.

The Kresge Foundation—an independent, private foundation unaffiliated with any corporation or organization—was created in 1924 by Sebastian S. Kresge “to promote the well-being of mankind.” In 2003, the Foundation awarded grants totaling more than $105 million to 145 charitable and nonprofit organizations operating in the areas of higher education, health and long-term care, arts and humanities, human services, science and the environment, and public affairs.