4/22/2013
Written by
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Phyllis Wise announced today that The Grainger Foundation, Lake Forest, Illinois, has pledged $100 million to support the College of Engineering through establishment of the Grainger Engineering Breakthroughs Initiative. The contribution is made in memory and honor of William W. Grainger, a 1919 Illinois graduate in Electrical Engineering, and the founder of W.W. Grainger, Inc.
Dr. Wise said, “We are tremendously grateful for this extraordinary gift from The Grainger Foundation, which is an investment in the future of engineering, the future of our engineering faculty and students, and, indeed, an investment in the campus as a whole. This transformative gift will ensure a chain reaction of possibilities that will fortify the campus as a preeminent, globally-recognized institution.”
The Grainger Foundation, a long-term benefactor of the College of Engineering at Illinois, has made this pledge to ensure the continued global standing of the engineering program at Illinois by providing the support and infrastructure necessary for Illinois to lead the most important engineering breakthroughs of the future. With this generous support, the College is well-poised to continue its national leadership and enhance its global reach far into the future.
The resources from the Grainger Engineering Breakthroughs Initiative will be used as support for the faculty, students, and facilities of the College of Engineering at Illinois. It will also allow the College of Engineering at Illinois to consistently and repeatedly create new engineering breakthroughs by investing in research areas of transformative impact to society and to attract and educate the engineering leaders of tomorrow.
University of Illinois President Bob Easter said, “Thanks to the immense generosity of The Grainger Foundation, and its investment in the College of Engineering at Illinois, the University of Illinois can achieve its ambitious and bold program of knowledge production and excellence in education that will foster innovation to address the critical societal issues of today, and future grand challenges for generations to come.”
A substantial portion of the Grainger Foundation gift will create an endowment for engineering chairs and professorships to attract and retain renowned scholars to lead the College’s thrust for groundbreaking impact and international stature in the next wave of engineering research and education-- nearly doubling the number of endowed chairs and professorships in the College of Engineering. The gift will also create an endowment to provide broad research support for high impact engineering research collaborations. Bioengineering and “Big Data” are two prime areas targeted to receive significant resources for new faculty positions and research support.
"This generous gift will greatly boost the already strong footprint that CS has in data science, and also enable us to more deeply explore questions in critical areas like genomics, the environment, and public policy," said Computer Science Department Head Rob A. Rutenbar.
A portion of this gift will also provide the leadership gift to launch a $100-million fundraising campaign for an endowment for scholarships for students in the College of Engineering, and provide another lead gift for the $40 million renovation of the soon-to-be-vacated Everitt Laboratory building on the engineering campus. The increased scholarship funds resulting from the new endowment will strengthen the College’s ability to attract and retain the most exceptional engineering students.
Interim Engineering Dean Michael Bragg said, “On behalf of the College of Engineering, I express heartfelt thanks to The Grainger Foundation for its long-standing support of the College of Engineering at Illinois. Its commitments to the excellence of our programs over the past decades have contributed greatly to our accomplishments and ongoing excellence. With support from the Grainger Engineering Breakthroughs Initiative, the future of the College of Engineering at Illinois is bright indeed.”
For additional information, see the College of Engineering story about the pledge and more details about the Grainger Engineering Breakthroughs Initiative.
About The Grainger Foundation
The Grainger Foundation, an independent, private foundation, located in Lake Forest, Illinois, was established in 1949 by William Wallace Grainger, founder of W.W. Grainger, Inc., North America’s leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair, and operating products. Since its founding, the Foundation has provided substantive support to a broad range of organizations including museums and educational, medical, and human services institutions. Today, the Foundation is guided by the leadership of David W. Grainger, President and Director since 1979.
Inquiries: All inquiries about this gift should be addressed to Robin Kaler, Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, (217) 333-5010, rkaler [at] illinois [dot] edu (subject: Grainger%20Engineering%20Breakthroughs%20Initiative) .