| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Cara Cea, Public Information Officer, Pace University,
914-906-9680, ccea@pace.edu
Steve Densmore, Dyson Foundation Press Liaison,
845-234-8713, sdensmore@dyson.org
Editor’s note: 300 dpi renderings of various shots of the interior of the building are available upon request.
PACE UNIVERSITY BEGINS $7.2 MILLION SCIENCE LAB RENOVATION
Private and state funds will let students be more actively involved in science research
Third largest construction project in Pleasantville Campus history
PLEASANTVILLE, NY, May 29, 2009 – Pace University has started investing more than $7 million in renovating the science laboratories on its Pleasantville campus to give students more direct experiences with laboratory research.
The project reflects the increasing popularity of science majors at Pace, which have grown nearly 40 percent in the last seven years.
The work on Dyson Hall began earlier this month, managed by Pavarini Construction Company, Inc. (http://www.pavarini.com/). The architect is TPG Architecture, LLP (http://www.tpgarchitecture.com/).
The renovation is the third largest construction project to date on the Pleasantville campus and the largest capital investment on the campus since 2002, when the Ann and Alfred Goldstein Health, Fitness and Recreation Center was completed.
It is being funded by the Dyson Foundation, the New York State Higher Education Capital Matching Grants program (HECap) and Pace University.
“This funding is accelerating the direct involvement of students in laboratory research,” said Pace University President Stephen J. Friedman. “Students who study here will become tomorrow’s advanced professionals in fields like cancer research and forensics, and be sought after for environmental jobs in business, government, and nonprofit organizations.”
Friedman added: “We are very grateful for the generosity of the Dyson Foundation and the hard work of our state legislators, without whom this would not have been possible.”
Growth of majors. Pace’s core curriculum requires all students to take one science class with a laboratory component, but the recent increases have been among students who pursue science into a full-scale major. Biology has seen the largest growth – by 50 percent.
A major aim of the new design is to integrate laboratory research with other kinds of science learning. New labs will be laid out with this in mind. In addition, a new “gallery mall” will replace a narrow hallway in the current building, offering an enlarged open staircase and areas where students and faculty members can congregate and collaborate.
The facility also will have updated scientific instrumentation and a new library.
Energy efficiency will be increased by new windows, more efficient fume hoods and added insulation in the attic and outside walls.
The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in time for a celebration of the 35th Anniversary of the naming of Dyson College on October 8 of this year. The second phase will be finished by December 2010.
State and private funding. The needed funding came together last year when the university was awarded approximately $1.8 million in capital improvement funding from New York State’s HECap program.
The Dyson Foundation contribution of $5.4 million is part of a larger grant announced in 2007 by Robert R. Dyson, Chairman and CEO of Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation and President of the Dyson Foundation. The $7.5 million total gift was the third largest in Pace’s history and reflects a partnership between the Dyson family and Pace that began 79 years ago in 1930 when Robert Dyson’s father, Charles H. Dyson, graduated from Pace.
Charles Dyson became a pioneer in leveraged buyouts, was founder of the privately held investment firm Dyson-Kissner-Moran, undertook government assignments during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and served as Chairman of Pace’s Board of Trustees.
He died in 1997, but his name and legacy live on at his alma mater in a variety of capital, endowment and program priorities, especially the University’s Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, named for him in 1974. It has grown rapidly in the last seven years. Gifts to Pace from Charles Dyson, The Dyson Foundation and Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation now total more than $23 million.
About The Dyson Foundation. The Dyson Foundation is a private, family-directed grantmaking foundation established in 1957. Robert R. Dyson has served as President since 2000. Headquartered in Millbrook (Dutchess County), New York, the Foundation awards grants through a diverse regional funding program in the Dyson family’s home community of the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York State. http://www.dysonfoundation.org/
About Pace University. For 103 years Pace University has produced thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions resting on a firm base of liberal learning, amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lienhard School of Nursing, School of Education, School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. www.pace.edu
### |