| University of Florida Foundation, Inc. | |
| Christopher Brazda | 352-392-1633 |
| Public Relations | 100 NW 20th St |
| cbrazda@uff.ufl.edu | Gainesville, FL 32603 |
| For immediate release | Tuesday, March 07, 2006 |
UF COLLEGE OF DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PLANNING RECEIVES $1 MILLION GIFT
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning continues to build with support from some familiar friends.
It was announced today that the Marshall E. Rinker Sr. Foundation Inc. has pledged $1 million to the college to create the Rinker Scholar Endowment. The endowment will support fellowship awards to Associated Schools of Construction faculty members pursuing a Ph.D. degree in construction management at UF.
“Our foundation is pleased to continue its support of the M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction at the University of Florida,” said David Rinker, Marshall E. Rinker Sr.’s son and president of the M.E. Rinker Sr. Foundation. “My father would undoubtedly be proud of the Rinker School and its graduates and of their contribution to the building construction industry. We are happy to be able to fund the new Rinker Scholar program, which will assist the school in creating a new level of construction management professionalism in the industry.”
Income from the Rinker Endowment will help construction schools enhance the quality of the education offered, while increasing construction research efforts.
“We really appreciate the strong relationship the Rinker School has enjoyed with the Rinker family,” M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction Director Abdol Chini said. “Their investments in our program give us many opportunities which would otherwise be virtually impossible without this support.”
According to Chini, most of the faculty members in the approximately 60 construction management academic programs accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) have a master’s degree, but there is a shortage of qualified individuals engaging in research essential to the field. He said faculty members should be encouraged to earn a doctorate in construction management to foster research in such academic programs.
“The goal is to make the Rinker Scholar in construction education synonymous to the Fulbright Scholar in international education and the Rhodes Scholar in education at Oxford,” he said.
The Rinker School is one of only four doctoral programs in the country focusing solely on construction management.
A division of the College of Design, Construction and Planning, the School of Building Construction was renamed the M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction in 1989. In 2003, the school moved to Rinker Hall, which was awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The gift is eligible for matching funds from the State of Florida Major Gift Trust Fund and will count toward the Faculty Challenge Initiative. The initiative, which was announced in 2004 by UF President Bernie Machen, aims to raise $150 million to meet the demands of educating Florida’s growing population and make UF one of the nation’s premier research universities.
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