Page 14 - CEMS News Winter 2021

GIVING MATTERS
Amplifying generosity for the Next 100
New gift commitments celebrate CEMS education and a lifetime of giving.
Through a transformational philanthropic investment in the Next 100 Campaign, Dr. Jan J. Laskowski and his late wife, Dr. Sofia Milner Laskowski, are setting a course for the future of CEMS by establishing the Dr. Sofia Milner Laskowski Endowed Chair, the Dr. Jan J. Laskowski Endowed Chair, and the Dr. Sofia Milner Laskowski
and Dr. Jan J. Laskowski Scholarship in CEMS. These new commitments complement the couple’s previous fellowship gift to advance opportunities for female graduate students in CEMS.
Dr. Sofia Milner Laskowski, who passed away on October 22, 2018, was the CEMS department’s first female PhD graduate, receiving her PhD in Chemical Engineering in 1969. Dr. Jan J. Laskowski received his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 1968. Sofia spent the first 11 years of her career in the nuclear power plant development field at American Electric Power, Pickard, Lowe and Garrick and the Electric Power Research Institute, before joining IBM where she worked for 25 years. Jan spent his entire 34 year career at IBM.
Both have been tireless supporters of and advocates for the University of Minnesota. The couple’s remarkable legacy of generosity spans more than four decades. In 2002, Drs. Laskowski established the Jan J. and Sofia Milner Laskowski Fellowship as a part of Campaign FIRST, helping to secure the future of CEMS and its graduate program while also advancing the couple’s shared commitment to increasing the number of women in engineering careers. To date, the Laskowski Fellowship has launched the academic careers of 15 promising female chemical engineering graduate students during their critical first year in the department. Annie Moorhead, this year’s Laskowski fellow, described the impact of the Laskowskis’ generosity on her own academic career. “Fellowship funding strengthens our academic research by supporting new equipment purchases, graduate students, and more. Most importantly, being a well- funded researcher allows me to tackle new ideas with
the best resources, giving me more creative freedom and opportunities to contribute to the coatings research community.”
CEMS alumni Sofia Milner Laskowski and Jan Laskowski have committed extraordinary philanthropic gifts to CEMS as part of the Next 100 Campaign. Photo courtesy of Jan Laskowski.
Through their unyielding dedication to learning, passion for life, and commitment to advancing educational opportunities for all, Jan and Sofia Laskowski continue to sustain and shape CEMS, now and for the next century to come.
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