ESU Announces First Major Comprehensive Campaign “Today’s Dream, Tomorrow’s Reality” And Groundbreaking for New Science and Technology Center On Friday April 28, 2006

The Science and Technology Center will be the first new major academic building at East Stroudsburg University since 1979. The building is the centerpiece of a $15 million Comprehensive Campaign which will also raise funds for the Annual Fund, Athletic Facilities Renovation, Endowment (scholarships), and the Fine and Performing Arts Endowment.

Construction is expected to begin this summer with a projected completion date of fall 2008. The Science and Technology Center will accommodate diverse university academic departments ranging from mathematics to computer sciences, chemistry, biology, biotechnology, and physics.

The cost to build the Science and Technology Center will exceed $27 million.

The 124,000-square-foot-structure will include research, classroom, and office space. The center was identified as the university’s most needed facility in the Campus Master Plan. The building and its academic mission have been identified as a potential stimulant for regional economic growth and development.

“The center will be much more than simply another academic building,” said University President, Dr. Robert J. Dillman. “The concept for the new center is all about inspiring and stimulating the faculty and empowering our students to take ideas from concept to reality. Ultimately we will provide the necessary tools for our students to succeed and excel in the new professions of the 21st century as well as the time-honored occupations such as teaching.”

Funding in excess of $14 million in state and federal dollars to the building includes: $13.6 million announced by former Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker in January 2002 and a $500,000 federal grant announced by U.S. Senator Arlen Specter in March 2002. The balance of the cost of construction will be provided by the ESU Foundation through private gifts. Dr. Sam Niedbala and Linda Lee Niedbala, both graduates of ESU, will lead the kickoff for the “public phase” of the Comprehensive Campaign, which has already achieved more than half of its $15 million goal.

ESU’s Vice President for University Advancement Dr. Isaac W. Sanders will preside over the groundbreaking. Opening remarks by President Dillman will be followed by greetings from Dennis Yablonsky, Pennsylvania State Secretary of Community and Economic Development on behalf of Governor Edward G. Rendell as well as Kenneth M. Jarin, Esq., chairman of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Board of Governors, and Dr. Judy G. Hample, PASSHE chancellor. Harry Lee, Esq., will deliver greetings from the ESU Council of Trustees as the group’s chairman, and Barth Rubin, chair of the ESU Foundation Board, will also make brief remarks.

General Campaign Co-chairs Dr. and Mrs. Niedbala will also address those attending, followed by a corporate perspective delivered by Philip Hosbach, vice president of immunization policy and government relations for sanofi pasteur, a faculty perspective from Dr. Deborah Prince, professor of mathematics, student perspective by Allison Peitz, Student Senate president, and a legislative perspective from the Honorable Paul Kanjorski, U.S. Representative to the 11th Congressional District.

For more information about the campaign kick off ceremony for ESU’s first major Comprehensive Campaign, “Today’s Dream, Tomorrow’s Reality,” please contact Dr. Isaac Sanders, Vice President for University Advancement, at (570) 422-3333.