• Groundbreaking Set For Waisman Center Expansion
  
• Waisman Center Expansion Holds Far-Reaching Potential

Article originally published in September, 1998

Groundbreaking Set For Waisman Center Expansion

MADISON - Judith Deutsch Kornblatt, an expert on Russian philosophy and 19th and 20th century Russian literature, has been named interim associate dean for the humanities in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School.

Kornblatt, chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, has been on the faculty since 1988. She will replace Fannie LeMoine, a professor of classics and comparative literature who died Aug. 18. The Graduate School will begin a search for a permanent associate dean for the humanities in spring.

Virginia Hinshaw, dean of the Graduate School, says Kornblatt brings many strengths to her new position.

"Judith is an accomplished and recognized scholar who uses her administrative skills to work effectively with many different groups in the development of new ideas," Hinshaw says. "Our prior associate dean, the late Fannie LeMoine, also heartily endorsed Judith, and hoped she would serve the campus and her discipline in this way. All of us are very excited about working with Judith to develop new ideas for enhancing research and graduate Outreach, particularly in the humanities," Hinshaw says.

Kornblatt has published widely on the Cossack myth in Russian literature, and on Russian religious thought. She earned her Ph.D., M.Phil. and M.A. at Columbia University. She received her B.A. from Williams College.

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Writer: Barbara Wolff, (608) 262-8292

MADISON - A $23.6 million expansion of the Waisman Center has the potential to advance interdisciplinary scientific research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the forefront of international efforts to unravel the mysteries in several dynamic and emerging scientific fields.

World renowned for its research on human development and developmental disabilities, the Center will become a focal point for innovative work in the areas of human gene therapy and greater understanding of the human brain. In addition, the Center's model early intervention and inclusive early Outreach programs will be expanded.

Funded entirely by private gifts and grants, the seven-story, 68,486 gross square foot addition to the Center will include:

* State-of-the-art research laboratories and support facilities for human gene therapy research,

* A biopharmaceutical production facility that will provide campus investigators with materials for human clinical trials,

* New facilities for functional imaging of the human brain,

* Increased space and new facilities for the early intervention programs,

* A 100-seat conference center with advanced audio/visual systems and interactive technology,

* Increased space for the Waisman Early Childhood Program, and

* A central reception and information area.

The Human Gene Therapy Center is designed and equipped to put the UW-Madison at the cutting edge of a concerted world-wide push among scientists and researchers to translate and apply the information gained in recent research in molecular biology.

That research involves the elucidation of the genetic mechanisms involved in human development and health and in dramatic new opportunities to transfer healthy genes into human tissue to cure or prevent what have been "incurable" diseases. At the Waisman Center, that research focuses on profound or fatal diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, neurodegenerative diseases such as leukodystrophies and Parkinson's disease, and metabolic diseases such as phenylketonuria in which children are missing a key enzyme critical to good health.

In addition, with nearly 100 other related research projects currently under way throughout the UW campus, the Gene Therapy Center will support that research and accelerate discoveries so they may be applied to a wide range of human diseases through clinical intervention.

Another element of the expansion project will further enhance the university's efforts to develop and utilize brain imaging technologies - positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging - to study child development.

By allowing researchers to peer inside the working brain of a subject engaged in well defined tasks, the technology will advance the understanding of cognitive development and foster the creation of new knowledge about emotional and mental health, according to Waisman scientists. Acquisition of that knowledge will further the effectiveness of neuroscience research in fields such as psychology, psychiatry, medical physics and radiology.

In addition to the new scientific facilities, a major renovation of the existing single-story west wing will allow for the expansion of the Waisman Early Childhood Program and provide adjacent areas for collaborative research programs. This will permit the WECP to serve more children and families, expand its research and training capabilities, and work more effectively with other UW units that depend on the program for research and training support.

The addition will be located on the northeast corner of the existing tower to take advantage of lake views, facilitate a potential future skywalk connection over Highland Avenue to the Clinical Sciences Center, and minimize impacts to the neighboring Shorewood residential area to the southwest of the existing facilities. The addition creates a landscape plaza on the south to provide a pedestrian friendly environment with seat walls, tree plantings and planting areas. The buff-toned face brick, precast panels, trim elements and large expanses of glass to the north complement existing forms and materials, while framing the views of the lake and campus vistas.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and gifts from private foundations, and friends and alumni through the University of Wisconsin Foundation, have provided the majority of funds for the project.

The lead donor is James F. Kress, DePere, Wis., chair and chief executive officer of Green Bay Packaging, Inc., Green Bay, Wis. A 1951 UW graduate in business, Kress made the gift on behalf of himself and his family through the George F. Kress Foundation, Inc., founded by his late father, a 1925 graduate in finance, investment and banking. Other lead donors include William ('42 BS MechEngr) and Betty Jo Heckrodt, Menasha, Wis.; and the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation, Inc., Madison, Wis.

Other individual donors are Sigrid and Gordon P. Connor ('59 BS MechEngr), Laona, Wis.; Harriet Barg Gottlieb ('67 BA Eng), Pleasant Valley, Iowa; John Marten Kelly ('71 BA, Econ), Oshkosh, Wis.; Oscar G. and Rosalie Mayer, Rancho Mirage, Calif.; Daniel H. Neviaser, Madison, Wis.; Kathleen Daubert Smith ('56 BS L&S) Tucson, Ariz.; Charlene Seabury-Houser ('44 BA L&S), Wilmette, Ill.; Walter John J. Vollrath Jr. ('39 BA Econ) and June L. Vollrath, Sheboygan, Wis.; and Kenneth R. Welton ('56 BS CivEngr & UrbLandEcon), Middleton, Wis., and Naples, Fla.

Also contributing are the Aid Association for Lutherans, Appleton, Wis.; the Terry Family Foundation, Madison, Wis.; the W.M. Keck Foundation, Los Angeles; the Morrison Roberts Foundation, Hastings, Neb.; the Wausau Nationwide Insurance Foundation, Columbus, Ohio; the Seabury Foundation, Chicago; and the Marshall and Ilsley Foundation, Inc., and the Northwestern Mutual Life Foundation, both of Milwaukee, Wis.

Architects and engineers for the expansion include Bowen, Williamson and Zimmerman, Madison; Flad and Associates, Madison; and Arrowstreet, Inc., Somerville, Massachusetts. The general construction contractor will be JH Findorff & Son, Inc., also of Madison.

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Writer: Fred Milverstedt, UW Foundation, (608) 263-5496