U. breaks ground for IAST

Former Vice Provost for Research Barry Cooperman approached the podium and shouted, "We did it!" After years of planning and with tremendous financial and developmental support, Cooperman was finally able to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories and the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology Friday. Cooperman, accompanied by University President Judith Rodin, Provost Stanley Chodorow and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Roy Vagelos, dug ceremonial shovels into the ground to commemorate the event. "[IAST is] an opportunity for Penn to redefine the boundaries of today's science endeavors," Rodin said. The Institute, funded in part by a $10 million donation by Vagelos, will combine research opportunities for students in the schools of Engineering and Applied Science, Arts and Sciences and Medicine. Vagelos, who is a 1950 College alumnus, was given a standing ovation as he approached the podium to speak. "The completion of this project will give the University unparalleled leadership in scientific and technological research that will allow the integration of various sciences," he said. Also on hand for the ceremony were College senior Holly Gratkowski and Engineering graduate student Fred Allen, both of whom are deeply involved in the research opportunities the University currently offers. "Research has been by far the most important part of my experience at Penn," Gratkowski said, adding that the IAST is "not a luxury but a necessity if we are to move forward in the fields of biochemistry and bioengineering." Allen, who is currently pursuing his Ph.D. and majoring in bioengineering, focused on the opportunities the Institute will offer for collaboration between the sciences. "This institute, thanks to the generosity of Dr. Vagelos and the foresight of President Rodin, will create the framework necessary for collaboration between scientists involved in different fields, but the same goal -- the progression of science," Allen said. The Institute, which is slated for completion in October 1997, was designed by Robert Venturi of Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc. The general contractor for the project is L.F. Driscoll Co. of Philadelphia.