Page 21 - CEMS News Winter 2021

ALUMNI NEWS
Gore continued from page 20
One day after this memorable breakfast, and without fanfare, Bob signaled his approval of the plan to initiate Campaign FIRST by faxing $1 million in stock (matched one-to-one), which laid the cornerstone for this fundraising initiative to support graduate student fellowships.
Bob graciously served as a co-chair for the campaign, which was formally launched in 2006 and finished with a rousing weekend celebration in 2012. Today, first-year graduate students are largely supported by the program that Bob Gore sparked to life, resulting in $20 million raised, including generous matching funds from the University of Minnesota. But the Gores were not done.
It had been half a century since Bob Gore was a graduate student in CEMS, yet the space available for research in Amundson Hall was only marginally larger. Moreover, the building had serious deficiencies, most notably single pane aluminum curtain wall windows, many of which didn’t close properly. In addition, the undergraduate materials teaching lab was inadequate for the expanding class,
and there was a severe shortage of fume hoods. These shortcomings hampered faculty hiring and retention. Plans were laid to expand the building, but how would this be financed? While updating Bob on the final stages of Campaign FIRST, Frank Bates explained the urgency
of solving the space problem in Amundson Hall. True to form, Bob wanted to understand the issues and again suggested a visit to Delaware, this time for lunch. Now we had serious firepower.
Eric Kaler had just returned to Minnesota as the University’s president, and together, Frank and Eric spent several hours describing the needs and tremendous opportunities presented by the proposed building addition to Bob and Jane. They wanted to know what we needed. We took deep breaths and told them $10 million. In the next few days, Bob looked over the plans in detail and told us to make three proposals: low, medium and high funding levels. We responded a little audaciously that only one level of support would work. About two weeks later, Bob and Jane committed $10 million to the most significant construction project in CEMS since Amundson Hall was built in 1950.
Named the Gore Annex, this 40,000-square-foot addition increased the assignable space by about 35%, added
60 fume hoods, multiple faculty offices, and the Valspar
Dan Frisbie (pictured, from left), Jane Gore, Bob Gore, and President Eric Kaler enjoying the Gore Annex grand opening reception in November 2014. Photo credit: Richard Anderson Photography.
materials lab, one of the finest in the country. And just as with Campaign FIRST, the Gore donation helped trigger additional University funds to replace the Washington Avenue building façade with an environmentally efficient and beautiful window structure, along with other building upgrades.
We both had the pleasure of seeing Bob and Jane Gore in April 2019. Bob had been battling cancer for more than a year, yet his eyes were piercing and his mood upbeat.
We will miss this remarkable man while drawing solace over a life lived so well. Bob Gore enhanced the lives of innumerable people through his inventions, growth and management of a large company, and by inspired and generous donations to his alma maters.
Frank S. Bates, Regents Professor;
Eric W. Kaler, UMN President Emeritus and Professor
CEMSnews Winter 2021 21