University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
The Messenger
Vol. 5, No. 1/1995
Recognition: A Special Report
UD Receives $500,000 Challenge Grant From Kresge Foundation For
Renovation And Expansion Of Colburn Laboratory

     The Kresge Foundation has awarded $500,000 to the University
of Delaware for the renovation and expansion of the Allan P.
Colburn Laboratory Building, home of the UD's nationally ranked
Department of Chemical Engineering. The challenge grant requires
the University to raise an additional $1.25 million in matching
funds by Nov. 1, 1996.
     The grant will support the University's $22 million
renovation and expansion of the laboratory on the Newark campus.
The state of Delaware has committed $15 million, and the
University is raising the remaining $7 million through private
gifts and grants, of which this latest grant is a part.
     "This grant from the Kresge Foundation provides the
University's alumni and friends with a powerful incentive to
complete the Colburn Campaign by next fall," University President
David P. Roselle said.
     "The University is deeply grateful to the Kresge Foundation
for its generous and continuing support and encouragement of our
efforts. An earlier grant of $350,000 for our Bob Carpenter
Sports/Convocation Center gave our alumni and friends a rallying
point, and we finished that campaign ahead of schedule and above
goal."
     The renovation project, which began in November 1993, is
scheduled for completion next summer. The existing building will
have been completely remodeled and an additional 40,000 square
feet of space will have been added. This is the first significant
improvement to Colburn Laboratory since it opened 28 years ago.
     State-of-the-art laboratory facilities are essential to the
research and teaching efforts of the Department of Chemical
Engineering, consistently ranked among the top 10 in the country.
     The expansion project has two phases. The first phase,
completed this summer, involved extending all four floors of
Colburn Laboratory, to provide laboratory, office and support
areas and a major utility service chase. The second phase, now
under way, involves the renovation of the existing laboratories
within Colburn Laboratory and the consolidation of faculty and
administrative offices.
     The Kresge Foundation is an independent, private foundation
created by the personal gifts of Sebastian S. Kresge and is not
affiliated with any corporation or organization.
     In 1994, the foundation reviewed 718 proposals and awarded
grants totaling $57,369,686 to 145 organizations in 36 states and
the District of Columbia. Grants are made to institutions
operating in the areas of higher education, health and long-term
care, arts and humanities, human services, science and the
environment and public affairs.
     The foundation makes grants toward projects involving
construction or renovation of facilities and the purchase of
major capital equipment or real estate. Grant recipients have
raised initial funds toward their respective projects before
requesting foundation assistance. Grants are then made on a
challenge basis, requiring the raising of remaining funds,
thereby insuring the completion of the projects.
     The UD Department of Chemical Engineering, which is a
primary source of external research support for the University,
covers all the classic areas of the discipline, as well as new
research and educational thrusts, such as biochemical
engineering, electronic materials processing, colloid and
interfacial science of complex fluids and advanced computational
methods.
     The department faculty, which numbers 22, has established
national and international reputations through their research and
their authorship of widely used textbooks.
     Five of them are members of the National Academy of
Engineering and eight are Presidential Young Investigator Award
recipients. Currently, 280 undergraduates and 112 graduate
students are enrolled in the department.