• September 4, 2008

  Iowa State University to break ground on new chemistry facility Sept. 6
  
  

• A ceremonial groundbreaking for Hach Hall, Iowa State University's newest chemistry facility, will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, on the northwest side of Gilman Hall. Kathryn Hach Darrow of Mukilteo, Wash., the lead donor to the project with a $10 million commitment, will be speaking at the event.
  
  "Chemistry is vitally important to our role as a leading university of science and technology, and having state-of-the-art facilities is critical to continuing our leadership role in chemistry," said ISU President Gregory L. Geoffroy. "We are excited to get construction of the chemistry building underway and we are looking forward to the advanced facility that will benefit the entire campus."
  
  Hach Hall is a $74.5 million project that is planned as a three-story, 135,000-square-foot facility. The first floor of the building will be dedicated to the undergraduate teaching laboratories and student interaction space. The second and third floors will be dedicated to research space for faculty, staff and graduate assistants, with some labs remaining open to allow for recruiting new faculty to Iowa State. The project has an estimated completion date of 2010.
  
  Hach Hall is named in honor of Kathryn Hach Darrow's late husband and ISU alumnus, Clifford Hach, and the extended Hach family. Both were longtime supporters of Iowa State dating back to the 1940s when they met on the Iowa State campus. Clifford graduated in 1947 and went on to be a trailblazer and innovator in the chemistry field, and holder of 34 patents. The couple started the Hach Chemical Company in 1947 (name changed to Hach Company in 1980) in Ames Iowa, and experienced their first major success through the development of a simplified titration method for measuring hardness in drinking water. Clifford Hach died in 1990. In 1999, the Hach Company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation. 
   
  "I am thrilled to be part of this transformational opportunity for Iowa State to inspire tomorrow's scientists, teachers, researchers and entrepreneurs," said Hach Darrow. "My husband was a perfect example of someone who saw the potential of science and applied it to improve people's lives. He would be very proud of Iowa State today." 
  
  Another significant commitment to the project came last year from the Roy J. Carver Trust, based in Muscatine, Iowa, with a commitment of $4.5 million to the facility.
  
  "The Carver Trust has endorsed this project as a basis for promoting its central interest in biomedically relevant scientific research," added Troy Ross, executive administrator of the trust. "We recognize the need for providing safe, modern facilities, both for enhancing the existing strengths of the department and as a vehicle for recruiting promising, young investigators to be the chemistry faculty of the future."
  
  The Iowa Legislature has approved $58.9 million for the project with an additional $15.6 million anticipated through private support. Additional private funds raised beyond the $15.6 goal will be used for laboratory equipment and classroom enhancements not included in current construction costs. 
  
  "This gift is enormously important to the future of the department of chemistry and the university," said Jake Petrich, professor and chair of the department. "It will help us recruit and retain the best faculty and students and provide essential infrastructure to perform cutting-edge research."

  The commitments from Hach Darrow and the Carver Trust are part of Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose, the university's $800 million fundraising effort that was publicly launched last October.

Kathryn Hach Darrow.

Construction Site