CLU Sciences Receive Major Gift from Swenson Family

THOUSAND OAKS, CA (March 2007) – Jim and Sue Swenson of Dana Point have pledged a $5 million gift to enhance the science facilities at California Lutheran University. The donation will be used to help fund construction of a new science building on the Thousand Oaks campus.

A native of Wisconsin, Jim Swenson graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a degree in chemistry and worked as a research chemist before starting his own circuit board technology company, Details, Inc., based in Anaheim.

After his retirement, Swenson and his wife established the Swenson Family Foundation to benefit education and religion through scholarship funds. Through the Foundation, the Swensons have provided numerous renewable scholarships to CLU students and funding for capital projects on campus. Jim Swenson has served on the CLU Board of Regents since October 1999.

In 2001, the Swenson Family Foundation awarded $1 million toward the construction of the Spies-Bornemann Center for Education and Technology. The center serves as home to the School of Education and the Communication Department and houses the university’s television studio, computer laboratories and a distance learning laboratory which connects CLU’s Thousand Oaks campus with its two graduate centers.

“This very generous gift will be a boon to our science programs,” said CLU President John Sladek, who envisions major growth in the areas of undergraduate and graduate research in the areas of molecular biology, neuroscience, bioengineering and others.

“As a scientist, I am especially excited to see such a commitment to our already burgeoning science curricula at CLU,” added Sladek. “We benefit from our proximity to an exceptionally rich corporate presence in the life sciences, “ said Sladek.

In recent years, CLU offered two new cutting-edge majors – bioengineering and environmental science, which are part of the University’s Center for Integrated Science and Bioengineering. CLU has out grown its current science facilities -- Ahmanson Science Center and D Building which house offices, classrooms and labs for biochemistry and molecular biology, bioengineering, biological sciences, chemistry, environmental science, geology and physics.

An advisory committee involving campus and external constituents has been assembled to guide the development of new graduate programs – including a doctoral degree -- in the sciences. Dennis Fenton, Ph.D., a Vice President at Amgen, and Jim Swenson will serve as co-chairs of the committee. CLU faculty involved in the committee will include Michael Shaw, Ph.D., a professor of bioengineering and physics and Director of the Center for Integrated Science and Bioengineering, and Michele LeBlanc, Ph.D., the Nena Amundson Professor of Biomechanics, Coordinator of the Natural Sciences Division and Chair of the Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Department.

MEDIA NOTE: For additional information about the $5 million gift or the new science facility, please contact the Media Relations Office at (805) 493-3512 or (805) 493-3839.