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NEWS RELEASE

10-01-03

Contacts:
Pam Reinig, Engineering Communications, 515-294-0261
Ann Wilson, ISU Foundation, 515-294-9608
Annette Hacker, ISU News Service, 515-294-3720

HOOVER HALL DEDICATION TO CELEBRATE COMPLETION OF ISU ENGINEERING COMPLEX

Ames, IA--The largest capital project ever undertaken by Iowa State University comes to a successful conclusion Saturday, Oct. 4, with the dedication of Gary and Donna Hoover Hall, the Iowa State University College of Engineering's newest high-tech teaching and research facility.

Dedication ceremonies will begin at 2 p.m. in the Kent-Stein auditorium in Hoover Hall. Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy, College of Engineering Dean James Melsa, ISU Foundation President Dan Saftig, and Gary and Donna Hoover will be among the featured speakers. The new building is located at the west end of the Iowa State campus, next to the Marston water tower and across from Howe Hall.

Hoover Hall, Phase II of the $62.5 million Engineering Teaching and Research Complex (ETRC), was built with the support of private gifts and state funds. Total cost of the building is $27 million. Planning for the ETRC began just over a decade ago with the goal of creating an enhanced 21st-century student learning facility equipped with advanced technology and a practice-oriented research environment promoting regular interaction with visiting engineers. ETRC Phase I was completed in 1999 with the opening of Howe Hall, a $35.5 million facility.

"Leadership in engineering is important to Iowa State University and to Iowa. With the completion of the Gary and Donna Hoover Hall and the total Engineering Teaching and Research Complex, we are in position to do much more -- in preparing the engineering and technology leaders of the future, and in creating new economic opportunities for Iowa and the nation," said Geoffroy.

Hoover Hall is named for Iowa State alumnus Gary Hoover and his wife Donna, who provided a leadership gift to facilitate construction of the building. Other major donors to Hoover Hall include Barbara R. Palmer and her late husband Jim; the Kent-Stein Foundation, a charitable foundation; and Stanley and Helen Howe, leadership donors to Phase I of the ETRC. All gifts were made through the Iowa State University Foundation to benefit the College of Engineering.

Gary Hoover received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University in 1961. He later earned a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Santa Clara University. After working for Westinghouse for 20 years, Hoover moved to Omaha, Neb., where he founded a business that built and operated power plants. Now retired and living in Rio Verde, Ariz., the Hoovers remain actively involved with Iowa State.

Classes will begin in January 2004. The building contains labs for fabrication, multidisciplinary design, and mechatronics, as well as a 400-seat auditorium. The building will be home to the Materials Science and Engineering Department, Engineering Computer Support Services, and associated college computer laboratories and classrooms. A covered sky bridge across Bissell Road links Howe Hall and Hoover Hall.

Iowa State's College of Engineering recently launched an initiative to become one of the nation's top 20 programs. "This new facility is proof that the college's effort is gaining momentum and that its goals, while ambitious, are achievable," said Melsa.

Iowa State's College of Engineering has played a critical role in some of the most significant technology achievements, including the world's first electronic digital computer, the encoding process essential to nearly all fax machines and the development of smart materials for use in the aerospace industry. The college is also home to one of the world's only six-sided virtual reality labs.

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Note to editors: Downloadable photos of Hoover Hall are available at http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/photos.html.