December 1, 1999

The Kresge Foundation Awards Middlebury College A Science Initiative Grant

The Kresge Foundation has awarded Middlebury College a Science Initiative Challenge Grant of $500,000. The grant supports the College’s efforts to provide its students with well maintained science equipment that reflects current technology.

The first portion of the two-part grant, $250,000, was awarded to the College this fall, on the basis of Middlebury’s successfully completed effort to raise funds to purchase major scientific equipment for the chemistry, geology, and physics departments. The second portion will support an endowment fund for the purchase of new or replacement instrumentation in the future.

In order to receive the second installment of $250,000, the College must raise an additional one million dollars by the spring of 2001 to create a total endowment fund of $1.25 million.

“As Bicentennial Hall, the new science facility, neared completion, we turned our attention to acquiring the major scientific instrumentation that we needed for the new building, and to securing that investment for future generations through a strong endowment,” said Will Melton, vice president for external affairs at Middlebury College. “This grant is a critical contribution to completing the second phase of improvements to our science program.”

In 1998, the Michigan-based Kresge Foundation reviewed 599 proposals and awarded a total of over $106 million in grants to 211 charitable organizations in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, England, and South Africa. Grants are made to institutions operating in the areas of higher education, health and long-term care, arts and humanities, human services, science and the environment, and public affairs.

The Kresge Foundation is an independent, private foundation created by the personal gifts of Sebastian S. Kresge. It is not affiliated with a corporation or organization.