Foundation of Dreams

THE NEWLY FORMED Cal Poly Foundation helped give life to an idea, nurturing the creation of a state-of-the-art instructional facility at the heart of Cal Poly.

The Foundation Board of Directors acted on its first fund raising initiative, playing a key role in raising more than $4 million of the $17 million in private gift support for the Center for Science and Mathematics.

In a significant fund-raising effort, supporters from across the university have come together to make generous contributions to a common vision.

Funding the multi-leveled Center for Science and Mathematics has been a decade-long effort, according to College of Science and Mathematics Dean Phil Bailey. “What these remarkable individuals have accomplished is truly a milestone,” he said. “This building will be a primary resource for all Cal Poly students.”

Board member Ken Edwards spearheaded an effort to raise $2.5 million for a new technology center, to be housed in the Center for Science and Mathematics. The Ken Edwards Western Coatings Technology Center, unique to the West Coast, will house a polymer synthesis laboratory, an instrumental analysis center, a formulation laboratory and project research laboratories.

The majority of Board members have given personal funds to the facility, Bailey added. Their names will be included on the list of all primary supporters on the Founders and Donors Walls in the Center.

The 190,000-square-foot Center for Science and Mathematics will consist of a five-level central structure devoted to offices and student spaces, with wings on either side that house classrooms and laboratories. The facility will be the second largest building on campus, approximately the size of the Robert Kennedy Library.