UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State’s College of Engineering has announced an anonymous commitment, valued at $10 million, for research collaborations that bridge engineering and other disciplines. The endowment, which will come from the donor’s estate, is intended to foster discovery in fields ranging from nanomedicine to sustainable energy.
“Philanthropy has been essential to the extraordinary achievements of Penn State’s engineering students and faculty, and a gift of this magnitude will help to define the future of our programs,” said David Wormley, dean of the College of Engineering. “Through this gift and others, Penn State will be a leader in the collaborative, discipline-bridging efforts that hold the greatest promise in the 21st century.”
Income from the endowment will be directed to a broad range of purposes, including the recruitment and retention of top students and faculty and the enhancement of research facilities and equipment. Anthony Atchley, associate dean for research and administration in the College of Engineering, said, “One of the key roles of engineering is creating and advancing the technologies that enable fundamental discovery and translating these discoveries across disciplinary boundaries to solve important societal problems. This gift will allow us to target some of the most urgent and rapid areas that lie at the intersection of engineering, medicine and the physical and social sciences influencing health care, energy, the environment and modern communications.”
With support from the gift, highly interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students will undertake research in areas such as nanomanufacturing of medical diagnostic devices, developing electronic neural control systems to overcome loss of brain function, and creating multidisciplinary physical science, engineering and social science research networks to find longterm sustainable solutions to energy production, distribution and utilization.
“The College of Engineering would not be where it is today without philanthropic support,” said University President Rodney A. Erickson. “This gift will fuel interdisciplinary collaborations that capitalize on our institution’s diverse strengths and make Penn State an even more vital contributor in areas that will have an impact on us all. We are deeply grateful for the enduring support of every donor who continues to believe in the University’s potential for leadership.”
The gift will help the College of Engineering and the University to reach the goals of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. This University-wide effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America. The campaign is engaging alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University’s tradition of quality. The campaign’s top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. For the Future is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State’s history, with the goal of securing $2 billion by 2014.