|
|
Melvin and Ellen Gordon |
|
Recognizing the extraordinary leadership and talent
at the University of Chicago, Ellen and Melvin Gordon,
who operate Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc., donated
$25 million to establish the largest science building
on campus.
The Ellen and Melvin Gordon Center for Integrative
Science, which opened in 2005, houses scientists
in the Divisions of the Biological Sciences and the
Physical Sciences, allowing them to pursue innovative
research that crosses traditional boundaries between
physics, chemistry and biology.
“This generous gift supports research of a kind that reflects the core
values of our University—innovative discovery crossing disciplinary boundaries
and unmasking ideas of sufficient size and quality to create new paradigms of
thought,” says James Madara, MD, Chief Executive Officer, University of
Chicago Medical Center and Dean of the Division of the Biological Sciences.
The Ellen and MelvinGordonCenter for
Integrative Science
- Encompasses 400,000 square feet
- Location: 929 East 57th Street
- Houses 100 senior scientists, along with 700
additional researchers and students
Among those located in the Gordon Center are biologists,
physicists, and chemists whose research mostly occurs
at the nanoscale, or the scale of atoms and molecules.
It is this scale for which many problems in these
three fields merge. Occupying the heart of the building
to tackle these problems is the Institute for Biophysical
Dynamics, which was jointly founded in 1998 by the
Divisions of Biological and Physical Sciences. Work
within the Institute could influence developments
as diverse as molecular-based computing techniques
to more effective cancer treatments.
Also housed in the Gordon Center and pursuing similar
sorts of interdisciplinary research is the Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, the Ben May Department
for Cancer Research, the Chemistry Department, and
the James Franck Institute.
“There is such visionary leadership, and the
scientific track record is so extraordinary. They have
made so many important discoveries,” says Ellen
about scientists at the University of Chicago . Speaking
about her family’s gift to name the Center, she
continues, “The payback will be great as the
promise of a greater—and sweeter—future
becomes a reality for so many.”
|
