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3M Foundation raises $700K for Science Complex

By Carole Leigh Engblom
February 8, 2007

This past fall, the 3M Foundation challenged its employees and retirees who are St. Olaf alumni, parents and friends to raise $150,000 for the college's new Science Complex. For every dollar received between September and December 2006, the 3M Foundation promised to contribute $3.

The 3M Foundation-St. Olaf Challenge came to a successful conclusion on Dec. 1, 2006, with more than $700,000 in gifts and pledges committed to Beyond Imagination: The St. Olaf Campaign for the Future of Math + Science. With 103 households participating in the challenge, the goal was surpassed with gifts and pledges of $189,918. Under the 3:1 challenge, the 3M Foundation matched the first $150,000 and went even further, matching gifts over $150,000 one-to-one, resulting in more than $700,000 toward the campaign.

"We are grateful to each of the 3M employees and retirees who generously responded to this campaign," says St. Olaf Regent and science campaign co-chair John Benson, who also is a retired 3M executive vice president. "We are overwhelmed by their generosity. We are also grateful our 3M volunteers who helped encourage their colleagues to join in this important effort."

Based in St. Paul, 3M is an international leader in innovation. It also is one of the largest employers of St. Olaf graduates in the nation.

St. Olaf College is a national leader of baccalaureate institutions in producing math and science graduates, many of who go on to earn Ph.D.s in these disciplines. Upwards of 40 percent of St. Olaf students graduate with a major or concentration in math or the natural sciences. In Minnesota, only the University of Minnesota -- an institution with an undergraduate population ten times that of St. Olaf -- grants more math and science bachelors degrees.

Ground was broken for the new Science Complex on Dec. 1, 2006 and the facility will be constructed on a site once occupied by Flaten Hall, Old Main Annex, the Art Barn and Manitou Cottage. The completed complex will include a 180,000-square-foot building that will house the natural sciences, as well as 14,000 square feet of renovated space in Old Music Hall for those in the mathematical sciences and a connecting link between the two buildings. It also will revitalize the Old Main side of campus, replacing parking with new green space. The Science Complex is currently scheduled to open in late 2008 or early 2009.

Contact Carole Engblom at 507-786-3271 or leigh@stolaf.edu.