Rensselaer Magazine: Leadership in the 21st Century

Leadership in the 21st Century

We will... aim high. The Rensselaer Plan is expansive and ambitious. The Plan is achieving remarkable results and generating unprecedented support. The Plan is creating a bright new reality at Rensselaer.

Rensselaer has always achieved great things, but at no time has more been accomplished than in the past two and a half years.

Biotech Center: New Home for World-Class Research
Rensselaer’s new Center for Bio-technology and Interdisciplinary Studies will be an advanced high-technology facility focused on the application of engineering and the physical and information sciences to the life sciences.

The 218,000-square-foot facility, under construction on 15th Street adjacent to the George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation, is expected to house more than 430 faculty members, staff, and graduate students. It will also host world-class programs and symposia.

Core research facilities will house laboratories for molecular biology, biochemistry, analytical biochemistry, microbiology, microscopy, histology, tissue and cell culture, material characterization, and scientific computing and visualization.

The building will consist of four laboratory floors, plus a mechanical penthouse. Design of the three-story wing facing east along 15th Street will echo features of the nearby Quadrangle Complex residence halls. The south-facing wing parallel to a proposed new pedestrian walk will have four stories.

The anonymous gift commitment of $360 million was the most powerful endorsement imaginable of Rensselaer’s vision and plans for the future. The gift has put the Institute in the national spotlight and energized the entire community.

Total philanthropic support — not including the $360 million commitment — is the highest ever, and alumni giving has grown remarkably. Rensselaer jumped to 51st position (from 61st) in the percentage of alumni giving in the last two years, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Major gifts establishing research constellations — from Gail and Jeffrey L. Kodosky ’70 and Morris Silverman — will significantly advance Rensselaer’s participation on the cutting edge of information technology and biotechnology, respectively.

Other gifts to the endowment also reflect strong confidence in The Rensselaer Plan. For example, a complex of classrooms, seminar rooms, and gathering/exhibition spaces in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies will recognize a $1.5 million gift from Trustee Warren Bruggeman ’46 and Pauline Urban Bruggeman. In another demonstration of support for the Plan, Trustee Tom Baruch ’60 made a major gift to create the Richard Baruch M.D. Career Development Professor in biotechnology, named in honor of his father.

Just as significant, our alumni are en-trusting Rensselaer with their children’s education. There are 69 legacies in the Class of 2006 — almost three times what the number was six years ago. And they are investing their time as well; the number of Rensselaer volunteers — most of them alumni — rose to 2,480 in 2002.

The quality and relevance of Rensselaer’s research portfolio is both validated and enhanced by major new funding from public and private sources. The growth of sponsored research is creating new centers and programs to address the most pressing needs of the day. Increased funding is also empowering Rensselaer’s faculty and attracting new talent from around the world.

Leadership in research and scholarship is in turn creating a more stimulating environment for our students and affording them richer and more varied opportunities to become partners in discovery.

Finally, the world is taking note of Rensselaer’s growing reputation. In the past year alone, there were 1,600 media placements of stories about Rensselaer, 315 of them in national outlets with circulation above 100,000 and 20 of them in international media.

Rensselaer’s future has never looked brighter. A lofty and courageous vision has inspired an enthusiastic determination to excel. The Rensselaer Plan is guiding the Institute through a transformation as it moves boldly to take its place among the handful of research universities that will shape the 21st century.

People, Programs, Platforms

Rensselaer Magazine: December 2002
President's View	Your Mail	From the Archives	Hawk Talk	Class Notes Features

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In Memoriam	Making a Difference	Staying Connected

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Rensselaer (ISSN 0898-1442) is published in March, June, September, and December by the Office of Marketing and Media Relations.	Opinions expressed in these pages do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or the policies of the Institute.
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