Buchanan Outlines Recent UW Accomplishments

Jan. 26, 2007 -- President Tom Buchanan today (Friday) presented to University of Wyoming trustees a report of recent major accomplishments and gifts to UW. Among them were:

UW and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have developed a partnership that will bring NCAR’s new supercomputer center to Cheyenne in 2010. This will dramatically raise UW’s national and international reputation by providing high-speed supercomputing capacity for UW’s new energy school and numerous disciplines that rely on high-speed computation. The partnership will strengthen UW’s ability to recruit new scientists and engineers in a variety of disciplines.

Three companies and individuals contributed $12 million for the new School of Energy Resources. EnCana Oil & Gas USA pledged $5 million toward the construction of a building for the energy school. The Jim Nielson Family Trust, of Cody, gifted $5 million toward an endowment for the school's operations. Shell Exploration & Production Company has gifted $2 million. Each gift is eligible for state matching funds.

UW graduates Peter and Paula Johnson of Salt Lake City, Utah, donated $1 million to endow a center at the UW College of Business to help students prepare for careers. Their gift, which will be matched by state funds, will create the Peter M. and Paula Green Johnson Business Career Center, which will provide career management services for UW’s business students, including career counseling, job search strategies and marketing and networking tools to assist students in launching their careers.

Matt Titchener, a third-year UW pharmacy student from Cheyenne, was selected to receive the 2006 National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation Student Scholarship. He received $2,000 and was among more than 460 scholarship applicants. He works as an intern at the Laramie Wal-Mart pharmacy.

Wyoming is among four new states selected to participate in the State Scholars Initiative (SSI), a national business/education partnership effort to increase the number of students who take rigorous high school curricula. Each of the participating states will be funded at up to $300,000 during a two-year period. The SSI funding will help launch of the Wyoming P-16 Education Council, a partnership among K-12, community colleges, UW, Wyoming Department of Education, government and business.

The Daniels Fund has awarded a $120,000 grant to support 37 scholarships for students entering UW or one of six Wyoming community colleges during the next two years. The Daniels Opportunity Scholarship will be used to provide need-based financial aid for two years for non-traditional students, who do not qualify for the Hathaway scholarship.

This past year, Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) clients injected into Wyoming’s economy more than $9.1 million in financial capital. The capital was through Small Business Administration loans, conventional loans, personal investment and alternative financing that resulted after consultation with SBDC counselors. Since 1995, clients have introduced more than $136 million into Wyoming’s economy, according to the center’s year-end report.

UW has been awarded a $10,000 grant that will help cover living and child care expenses of single parents enrolled at UW through the Outreach School. The Wyoming Women’s Foundation grant will fund the new Outreach Opportunity Stipend, funding 10 stipends of $1,000 each for fall 2007 semester. The stipend will be awarded to single parents with preference given to single mothers, according to the donor’s wishes.

Researchers in the UW College of Agriculture are using radiocarbon signatures in carbon dioxide taken up by plants in Yellowstone National Park to show effects of long-term exposure to elevated levels of the greenhouse gas. Shikha Sharma, scientist and associate director of the UW Stable Isotope Facility in the College of Agriculture, and colleague Professor David Williams are leading the research.

Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007