ITL Program and Laboratory @ CU-Boulder

Naming the ITL wing of the Engineering Center "Drescher Undergraduate Engineering" is a tribute not only to the largest individual benefactor of the ITL project, but also to the vision of someone who inspired the College's academic leadership to dream. John's first gift to ITL gave it substance, his many subsequent gifts and challenges insured its success. John's belief in experiential, hands-on learning was an inspiration to the academic leadership who believed it was time to make fundamental changes in engineering education. And they did.

John passed away on February 9, 2000.

Undergraduate Excellence Fund*

A first in Colorado and in the nation. Students lobbied the legislature to allow a tuition "tax" to create a fund, controlled by the students, to support excellence in education. Their first commitment? a $1.250 million, 15-year pledge to support ITL, both the laboratory and the curricular reform associated with it. Remarkable by any measure.

*The UEF has since been renamed the Engineering Excellence Fund (EEF). Click here for the EEF web site: Engineering Excellence Fund.

Joel G. Broida '73 and Richard A. Broida '75

Two brothers. Both graduates of the College of Engineering. Both entrepreneurs with a flair for doing the extraordinary. A family charitable trust. An exciting educational breakthrough. A recipe for a powerful partnership. Joel and Richard made a multi-year commitment to give $1.0 million to CU to support the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program and Laboratory, and in doing so, honoring the memory of their father, Dan Broida, for whom the lower level lab plaza was named.

Clancy Herbst '50 and Linda Herbst

The Herbsts are no strangers to the College;their support for ITL is one of a string of strategic investments not only inthe College, but University-wide. As past chair of the University's Frontier2000 comprehensive fundraising campaign, Clancy demonstrated what philanthropyis all about. Clancy's investment in ITL allowed the College to ensure that the facility would be built the right way, with the elegance and style such aninnovative architectural manifestation of change deserved. Herbst Plaza is now the inviting east entrance to campus.

David and Lucile Packard Foundation

In truth, it was David Packard himself who saw the pioneering concept of ITL, and became an early champion of the project,not only by designating a "Chairman's grant" through the Packard Foundation, but also by writing a powerful letter of support to the Colorado State legislature at a critical time in the decision making process. No doubt, his endorsement carried great impact when the initial State approvals wereobtained. Then, when the funding for the project was nearly in place, it was David Packard who, by making a second grant, "took us over the top. "A little known fact: it was a student who made the first ITL presentation to Mr. Packard, and who nearly fainted when he asked her, "Would a million dollars help?"

Hewlett-Packard Company

Our corporate angel. Our partner in creatinga state-of-the-art facility. Our most generous benefactor. From the very beginning, and in the conceptual stage of ITL, folks from HP were helping usdefine this new learning environment. They poked and probed, asking the toughquestions, holding our feet to the fire. They wanted to assure (as we did) that this really was different, that we really were defining a new teaching/learning paradigm that broke down the discipline-based "turf" barriers. Through their recipient enhanced grant program, we were able to equip the ITL Lab as it (and our students) deserved.

James L. Patterson '60 and Pam Patterson

The Pattersons are a three generation CU family. In fact, not only did they make a gift to the ITL (in which there is now a Patterson Academic Livingroom), but they also created a scholarshipfor Native Americans in memory of Jim's father, Donald, and they provided the seed money to begin the Women in Engineering Program. And as if that wasn't enough, Jim has served on the Engineering Advisory Council, and is immediate past Chair.

S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation (S.D. Bechtel, Jr. '47)

Continuing a long tradition of strategic investment in the College, Stephen Bechtel Jr., who briefly attended CU duringthe war years, has created the Bechtel Active Learning Classroom in the ITL Laboratory. A technology-rich teaching/learning facility, the Bechtel classroom is invery high demand, but to use it, the pedagogy must embody the ITL philosophy: hands-on, experiential, team-based, multidisciplinary and FUN!

Gates Family Foundation

Though the Gates Foundation rarely supportspublic education, ITL was an exception, partially because of the outreach component to students from Kindergarten through high school, and to the general public. The ITL Laboratory building itself was built as an architectural andengineering laboratory, with exposed construction components, and with monitors, gauges and different building materials to allow demonstration, manipulation, and experimentation. Imagine, students controlling building systems! The Gates Foundation gift enabled the creation of a self-guided tour through ITL to highlight the building-as-lab component. And, the Gates gift was a challenge grant, helping us ultimately to reach our goal!

George M. Philpott, Sr. '29

A successful engineer and businessman, George founded the George M. Philpott Company, an international, well respected construction equipment rental, sales, and service organization. George credits much of his success to his engineering background and feels "privileged to give something back." The Philpott Group Study Room is a testament to his generosity. George strongly believes in the well-rounded engineer, and has beena key supporter of the Herbst Humanities in Engineering Program, as well asproviding scholarships for the Women in Engineering Program.

J.R. Woodhull '57, '60 and Barbara A. Woodhull '56

Both CU alumni, the Woodhulls not only supported the ITL Program and Laboratory, but created the Woodhull-Logicon Teaching Professorship, the first such faculty endowment in the College. Jack is CEO of Logicon, and through his personal and corporate gifts, he established a new model for support of the teaching mission of the College, and particularly, for teaching innovation related to the integration of teaching and learning as partof the ITL paradigm. Jack served as the Chairman of the Centennial Campaign for the College, and was very instrumental in raising the private funding needed for ITL.

U S WEST Foundation

The ITL is more than a building, it is fundamental curricular reform. To develop the early, experimental curricular components, the College needed seed funding. U S WEST became asignificant benefactor. They were enticed by the idea that ITL is a student-centered learning environment, that students would be exposed to engineering in their first semester. They generously provided seed money for the First-Year Projects Course, now completed by half of each freshman class, and showing an impact on improving retention in engineering.

Bruce M. Holland '74

A two-term member of the Engineering Advisory Council and generous supporter of the Minority Engineering Program, investments in the digital signal processing laboratories in the Electrical Engineering Dept., a provider of seed funding for a new course in the History of Technology... Bruce's interests in the College are broad and his philanthropy both generous and varied. As an ITL supporter, Bruce didn't want alot of fanfare, so when it came time to name the group study room, it was named for his son, Hobie. Maybe Hobie will become a successful entrepreneur like his dad, the winner of the College's first Entrepreneur of the Year Award!

Charles M. Palmer '76, '88 and Patricia A. Palmer

Though Chuck often worries about growth and expansion, he understood and supported the ITL Laboratory as a high utility,thoughtful, reconfigurable learning space that was truly dedicated to the undergraduate students. The ITL was not about more; it was about better.Chuck's gift followed years as an Annual Fund supporter, and by making a multi-year commitment, Chuck and Pat were able to make a real difference. John Drescher had extended a challenge: for anyone who made a gift or pledge of $50,000 or more to ITL, John would give an addition $10,000. Chuck and Pat leveraged their gifts and in doing so, helped maximize John's challenge!

Gary L. Roubos '59 and Terie A. Roubos '60, '75

Student leaders while on campus, Gary and Terie continue demonstrating their leadership: Gary as Chair of the Engineering Advisory Council, Terie as a member of the CU Foundation board, and as a member of the search committee for the CU Boulder Chancellor. Gary and Terie used the charitable estate laws to create a charitable remainder trust, deriving a life income, but at the same time, making a very generous gift to the University. And, they also continue to make generous annual gifts. By designating their annual gifts, Gary and Terie became investors in ITL.

Gay and Lesbian OutGiving Fund

This Fund is part of the Gill Foundation,created by Tim Gill '76, an applied math graduate. Tim personally chose to make this investment, and used his generous gift to challenge other donors toincrease their level of giving by inviting fellow engineering alums to make a gift of $5,000 or more, or increase a lower-level gift to the over-$5,000 level. With Tim's foresight and success in generating support for his challenge, he was able to raise an additional $100,000 for ITL.

AT&T Foundation

For many years, AT&T has been represented on our Engineering Advisory Council, and has been investing in the College. During the Centennial Campaign, they funded a mechatronics laboratory. TheFoundation's focus changed from a manufacturing initiative to an educational initiative, and ITL was right there to lead the way with our revolutionary curricular reform. AT&T saw our direction as the direction of the future; it was creative and fun, and they decided to provide funding for the pilot program. What most attracted them to the project was the interdisciplinary approach, with theme-based courses structured to eliminate redundancy and recognize the core education components of engineering education.

William C. Caile '65 and Sara Shreve Caile '68

Bill is currently the chair of the College's Resource Development Committee. The Caile's gift to the ITL was in honor of Ted and Caroline Shreve, Sara's parents. Now that their son, Shreve, is a CU engineering student, four generations of the Shreve-Caile family have attended CU, starting with Caroline's father, Frank Prouty. The entire family are avid CU supporters, and the Caile's made that fact even more evident with their recent establishment of a trust that will benefit future generations of CU engineers.

Quantum Corporation

With a corporate motto "Capacity for the Extraordinary," Quantum did something extraordinary for ITL by making a gift to create the Quantum Simulation Laboratory. When the commitment was made,Quantum was in the process of building a local facility only a few miles down the road. This gift cemented a partnership that will extend in many directions, from their past sponsorship of the annual Design Expo to research ties and recruitment of students.

Stenzel and Liebman Families

Judith Liebman serves as Vice Chair of the College's Engineering Advisory Council As a faculty member at the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, few know as well as she does what the impact of the new teaching/learning environment will have on faculty as well as students. She and her brother, Bill Stenzel, had the opportunity to make a generous gift from their family foundation. Judith saw the ITL as a catalyst for needed change, and Bill agreed.

Howard F. McCullough '37

Retired from GE, Howard had an unusual opportunity. His company has an extraordinarily generous matching gift policy,and Howard was able to double the impact of his gift. Howard was a "hands-on" engineer, and liked the idea that engineers would be designing and building even as first-year students. He liked the idea that engineers would be doing engineering in the lab, not just reading about it, and he liked the idea of collaboration. Howard remembers his early days on campus with fondness, and remembers the initiative and drive that was needed to survive. ITL is about doing things differently, and for Howard, innovation was the key to his personal success.

S.J. "Arch" Archuleta '61 and Bonnie Archuleta

A civil engineer who did it on his own, Arch likes the broad base ITL represents. His investment was based, in part, on his belief that an engineering education teaches life skills, from discipline to critical analysis. Arch's gift to ITL is only part of his philanthropy; Arch supports scholarships, and plans to continue investing in the College as part of his estate plan.

Donald G. White '65

A gift that was primarily engineered by Bill Caile, as chair of the College's Resource Development Committee, Don felt as strongly as Bill did that ITL was a project worth investing in --- a one-of-a-kind engineering educational facility. Bill and Don were in the same graduating class but only met when working as contractors under the same project years later. Bill hosted Don for a tour of the ITL and to meet Dean Corotis and was truly the one who inspired Don to help fund curriculum development for the lab. This is the ideal scenario of how successful fund raising can be if development staff, the academic leadership, and volunteers work together!

National Instruments

The corporate leadership of National Instruments saw the ITL at CU as the emerging national leader in engineering education. They are thrilled to have their products linked to the ITL, truly a winning project in their eyes. The have, in turn, engaged some of the directors of ITL in educating others about ITL by asking them to be keynote speakers at technology conferences at both UC - Berkely and MIT surrounding virtual instrumentation in an education context.

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Shift Report

Last updated November 23, 2009