CAMBRIDGE, MA, May 14, 2003 - Historic groundbreaking ceremonies for the McGovern Institute were held on the MIT campus on Monday, May 19th at 11:30 am. The 85,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art research facility will house the laboratories of 16 global leaders in neuroscience.

"Creation of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research will launch one of the most profound and important scientific ventures of this century, "said MIT President Charles M. Vest, "and will be a cornerstone of MIT's scientific contributions in the decades ahead. We are deeply grateful to Pat and Lore Harp McGovern for their visionary commitment to MIT and for their extraordinary leadership as philanthropists."

Speakers at the groundbreaking ceremonies will include MIT President Charles M. Vest; McGovern Institute Director and Nobel Laureate Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Cambridge Vice-Mayor Henrietta Davis; MIT Dean of the School of Science Robert Silbey; and Institute benefactors Patrick J. McGovern (International Data Group founder and chairman, and a 1959 MIT graduate) and his wife, entrepreneur Lore Harp McGovern. The McGoverns established the Institute in February, 2000 through a gift which is expected to total $350 million over the next 20 years, one of the largest university gifts in history.

"Pat and Lore McGovern have shown extraordinary leadership and generosity in establishing the McGovern Institute, with its focus on understanding higher brain functions in humans, "said Dr. Sharp. "This institute will lead MIT neuroscience into an exciting future of discoveries that will change our concepts of science and other cultural endeavors."

The McGovern Institute's 85,000-square-foot building will be located within the brain and cognitive sciences project, a 376,000 square-foot structure that also includes facilities for the Picower Center for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Each of the three entities will surround a central atrium that will help facilitate communication among faculty and students. The complex is scheduled to be completed in early 2005.

The architectural design for the entire project is a collaborative effort of Boston-based Goody, Clancy & Associates and Charles Correa Associates of Bombay, India.

"The beautiful new building, with its mixture of bold limestone facade and plate glass, will be the working place of 16 investigators and numerous students and fellows," Sharp said. "All of us thank the McGoverns and MIT for creating the future through the building of the structure."

For more information on the Groundbreaking Ceremony and new facility, go to http://mit.edu/evolving/projects/cogsci. For more information about the McGovern Institute's mission and members, go to http://mit.edu/mcgovern.
Contact: Lyn Chamberlin, skyemedia, inc., 978.443.0400 x11 lyn@skyepr.com

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