Ribbon Cutting Video By DePaul Student

DePaul celebrated the opening of the Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan Science Building, centerpiece of the university's $20 million Campaign for Excellence in Science, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 6.

DePaul journalism major Gabriel Evelyn takes us for an inside look at the new building. Watch the video below:

Excellence in Science Campaign surpasses $20 million fundraising goal

With the end-of-the-year receipt of a $236,000 grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, DePaul University has surpassed the $20 million goal for its Campaign for Excellence in Science, bringing the two-year fundraising effort to a successful close.

The Donnelley Foundation grant is slated to fund for three years the Chicago Wilderness Land Management Research Program, which is administered through DePaul’s Institute for Nature and Culture (INC).

In all, some $1.4 million of the campaign’s $20 million total will go to support science programs, including DePaul initiatives intended to boost science education among K-12 teachers and encourage minorities to pursue doctorates in the sciences, as well as the work of centers such as INC; the Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education; and the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Center.

An additional $917,000 will go to provide scholarships to students studying science and math at DePaul. Efforts to raise additional scholarship money will continue after the campaign’s official close.

The balance of the money raised – $17.8 million – will finance the construction of the Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan Science Building on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus, which opens for classes on Jan. 5, 2009.

“The success of this campaign is most tangibly reflected in our new state-of-the-art science building,” says the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president of DePaul. “This is where our next generations of scientists, health care professionals, policy makers and science educators will receive the kind of innovative, collaborative education for which DePaul is known. This new hub of excellence will provide a rich resource for DePaul students, future K-12 science educators, and science competent professionals for research labs and industry across Illinois.”

Holtschneider also notes that the facility is the first new academic building built on campus in a decade and also the first new building funded significantly through donor gifts in the last 10 years.

“I am deeply grateful to the Excellence in Campaign Committee, chaired by Sue Gin and Frank Clark, for their leadership and extensive work in making this campaign a success,” he says. “The committee’s leadership has provided a strong model of the kind of philanthropic investment that will serve DePaul and the community well going forward.”

More than 1,200 donors contributed to the success of the campaign, with gifts and grants ranging from less than $100 to more than $9 million. See the honor roll of donors for a full list.