Additional $2.5 million donated for new building
The Discovery Learning Lab in Marquette University’s new College of Engineering building, called the Discovery Learning Complex, will be named in honor of retiring Dean Stan Jaskolski, the university announced this week.
At a retirement reception for Jaskolski, Marquette President Robert A. Wild, S.J., said Robert and Patricia Kern, who earlier had donated $15 million for the new facility, agreed that the lab should be named for Jaskolski. “Bob and Pat Kern were early partners in Stan’s vision for expanding STEM outreach between Marquette and our local schools,” Wild said. “Bob and Pat funded the original Discovery Learning Center space in Haggerty Hall and could not be more thrilled about seeing this concept for education get the space it deserves in our new facility. They agree that it should be named for the man who set in motion so much excitement for our College of Engineering.”
Nearly 300 faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends attended the retirement reception. “Stan gets things done. He has worked tirelessly to achieve every goal he set, and in the process he has earned the respect and admiration of everyone who works with him,” Wild said. He cited Jaskolski’s work in raising money for scholarships and the new facility, in recruiting faculty and finding funding for endowed chairs, and in seeing the need for creating a “pipeline of up-and-coming engineers” by interesting elementary, middle and high school students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
A graduate and former faculty member in the College of Engineering, Jaskolski returned to Marquette as OPUS Dean of Engineering in August 2003 after a 20-year career at Eaton Corporation, where he served as chief technology officer and vice president of technology management.
The university also announced another $1 million gift from an anonymous donor for the Discovery Learning Complex. Five six-figure gifts were also received in the past month, according to Julie Tolan, vice president for university advancement. “While these wonderful gifts bring us closer to our goal, we are continuing our aggressive fund-raising, so that we can complete the entire project as soon as possible,” Tolan said.
Construction of the Discovery Learning Complex, located at 16th and Wisconsin, is underway. The $35 million building, the first phase of a $100 million project, is expected to open in August 2011.
