October 5, 2006

Contact:
Aaron Baca, 404-651-1444
University Relations

Georgia State University sets groundbreaking for University Science Park

ATLANTA - Science education and research at Georgia State University will leap-frog from decades-old facilities into state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms in a new University Science Park. The groundbreaking for the complex will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, (Oct. 10) at the site location - the corner of Piedmont Avenue and Decatur Street.

Joining Georgia State University President Carl Patton for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Parker H. Petit Science Teaching Laboratory and a science research laboratory will be Gov. Sonny Perdue and the initial building's namesake - Atlanta philanthropist and Matria Healthcare Chief Executive Parker H. "Pete" Petit.

The laboratories and a business incubator will be built on three acres and will serve as the core of the science park, which is projected to have an $800 million impact on the local economy within five years.

Patton said the complex will provide teaching and research facilities for nearly 6,000 students pursuing science degrees.

Petit, who received a master's degree in business from Georgia State, contributed $5 million to launch the science complex. Originally an engineer, Petit took up business studies at Georgia State following the loss of his infant son in 1970 to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Petit used his Georgia State training to start a business to design and market a home monitoring device to help prevent deaths in newborns. In addition to Petit's gift to the university, Georgia State faculty and staff supported construction of the science facility with donations.

"We've been looking forward to this for years," said Teryl K. Frey, professor and associate chair of biology. "This is a great step forward in terms of both science education and research at Georgia State. It will help expand our mission."

The Petit Teaching Lab and the research lab will be the new instructional and research home for the departments of biology, chemistry, computer science, geosciences, nursing, nutrition, physical and respiratory therapies, physics and astronomy, and psychology.

Research funding at Georgia State has tripled during the past decade to $60 million a year. That research generates an estimated $180 million in additional spending. The Georgia General Assembly approved $37.5 million earlier this year for construction of the teaching laboratory. Perdue approved the spending in the spring, which is over and above the state's 2005 investment of $2.71 million to design the facility.

Construction is set to begin next spring and is expected to take two years to complete.