State officials and major donors break ground on the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
The facility on the UW-Madison campus will focus on the fields of biotechnology, health sciences, and stem cell research. Governor Jim Doyle says it will help make Wisconsin a leader in those areas, which he expects to become vital to the US economy in the coming years. Doyle wants to capture 10-percent of those markets by the year 2015.
The cost to build the $150 million facility is being partially covered by a $50 million donation from UW alumni John and Tashia Morgridge. John Morgridge says the project is a great demonstration of how the community at large can come together with private money to create a great research institution.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the state are covering the remaining costs of the facility. The Institute is expected to be completed by 2010.
