Georgia Tech dedicates the Ford Environmental Science and Technology Building (Ford ES&T) on Friday, May 16, at 2:45 p.m. Named for its principal donor, the Ford Motor Company, the Ford ES&T building is the largest academic building at Tech, boasting 287,000 square feet. The building is the second of four to open in the Institute's interdisciplinary Life Sciences and Technology Complex. It will contain classrooms and research facilities for the Schools of Chemical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences as well as the disciplines of environmental biology and chemistry. It will also hold space for the Advanced Technology & Development Center.

"Georgia Tech is already a recognized leader in creating sustainable technologies, solving environmental problems and educating students to view their professions through the prism of sustainability," said Georgia Tech President G. Wayne Clough. "The Environmental Science and Technology Building will take our efforts to a new level, and we are very pleased to have Ford Motor Company as a partner in this effort."

The $58 million Ford ES&T Building was built with a combination of state and private funding, with $38 million coming from the state of Georgia, $15 million from private donors and $5 million from the Georgia Research Alliance.

Tech will celebrate Ford's $10 million commitment to the building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to be followed by a reception and public tours. The program will feature remarks by Clough and appearances by University System of Georgia Chancellor Thomas Meredith and honored guest Edsel Ford II, a member of the Board of Directors of Ford and great-grandson of the company's founder.

"This is a tremendous new building, and it also is a tool," said Ford. "But what counts most is the Georgia Tech scientists, engineers and cadre of dedicated graduate assistants. In the hands of these very capable people, this facility will help increase our environmental understanding and shape a better world for all of us."

Ford has had operations in Atlanta for nearly a century. The company is responsible for more than 3,000 jobs in the metro region and has donated several million dollars to Atlanta organizations in recent years. Ford has a long history of hiring Tech graduates as well as funding the Institute's programs. Over the past 40 years the company has been a key corporate partner with Tech, giving more than $4.6 million. Ford celebrates its 100th anniversary on June 16, 2003.