Amgen, a global biotechnology company with manufacturing operations in Boulder and Longmont, is giving $1 million toward the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building, a state-of-the-art research and teaching facility under construction at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The first phase of the 257,000-square-foot building on CU-Boulder's East Campus, northwest of Colorado Avenue and the Foothills Parkway, is slated for completion in late 2011. The facility will house the university's Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology, or CIMB, the department of chemical and biological engineering, and the biochemistry division of the department of chemistry and biochemistry.
The building has been instrumental in helping CIMB recruit a "dream team" of scientists and engineers led by CU-Boulder Distinguished Professor Thomas Cech, a 1989 Nobel laureate in chemistry and former president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
"Dr. Cech has not only been a leader in his field, but has advanced opportunities for research for students throughout his career," said Dave Bengston, vice president of Colorado site operations at Amgen. "Amgen's grant demonstrates our confidence in Dr. Cech's vision to further enhance research opportunities for undergraduates and aligns with our company's commitment to advancing science education and biotechnology research."
Amgen employs more than 900 people in Boulder County.
"Amgen's gift comes at a critical time in the construction of CU's new building, and it will allow full fit-out of laboratory space that would otherwise have been shell space," Cech said. "Equally exciting is the fact that this gift strengthens Colorado's already strong relationship with this premier biotechnology company."
A total of 60 senior CU-Boulder faculty, 500 staff members and hundreds of students are expected to work toward biotechnology solutions in the new building.
With the Amgen gift, more than $25 million in private support has been raised for the building including a lead naming gift from CU-Boulder Distinguished Professor Marvin Caruthers, a member of Amgen's first scientific advisory board. With a $60 million commitment from the university, this comprises more than half the building's $145 million Phase I cost.
The Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building, artist’s rendering of the view from the south.