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NEWS RELEASE

06-07-01

Contacts:
John Pitt, Civil and Construction Engineering, (515) 294-2888
Tom Mitchell, ISU Foundation, (515) 294-4077
Lance Cavanaugh, Engineering, (515) 294-4489
Skip Derra, News Service, (515) 294-4917

GIFT ESTABLISHES SOIL MECHANICS LAB

AMES, Iowa -- A $175,000 gift to the ISU Foundation will allow the College of Engineering to create a world-class soil mechanics laboratory for the civil and construction engineering department.

The Gerald and Audrey Olson Geotechnical Laboratory will be a 1,000 square foot facility dedicated to the evaluation of soil properties for construction purposes. It will be assembled in July and finished for the fall 2001 semester.

"I felt that when I went to Iowa State, the students and staff in the civil engineering department were like a family," Gerald Olson said. "This gift is in recognition of my appreciation of the university, the professors and fellow graduate students who were there with me."

The laboratory will be located in the Town Engineering Building and will be used primarily for graduate student teaching and research.

"This state-of-the-art lab will be used by Iowa State students to conduct the most extensive and complicated tests performed today," said ISU Foundation President Thomas Mitchell.

The Olson's will be recognized for their gift on June 8, during Alumni Days.

Gerald Olson received his master's of science degree in civil engineering from ISU in 1958. He has a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering (1956) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Audrey received a bachelor of arts degree in social work from Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, in 1976. They reside in Olathe, Kan.

The Iowa State University Foundation is the central fund-raising arm for Iowa State University. The ISU Foundation assists the university by securing and managing private gift support from individuals, corporations and foundations. In 2000, it completed Campaign Destiny: To Become the Best, which raised more than $458 million over five years.

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