Introduction Letter
Greetings from Missouri S&T and welcome to the annual report for the Kummer Institute for Student Success, Research and Economic Development.
It has been four years since the transformational gift from Fred and June Kummer created the Kummer Institute. In this report, we review a few of the many ways that gift continues to have a significant impact on S&T.
The first full cohort of Kummer Vanguard Scholars will earn their S&T degrees in the coming year, as will the first cohort of Ph.D. students supported by Kummer Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) Doctoral Fellowships. Each of these students will be a long-enduring part of the Kummer legacy.
Over the past four years, we have leveraged the Kummer gift against state, federal and other philanthropic resources to transform the physical landscape of S&T. This past year, we opened the Innovation Lab, a spectacular space where our students will have access to labs, classrooms and other facilities to tap their creative imaginations. Over the next several years, we will open and dedicate the Welcome Center, the renovated and expanded Applied Research Center (formerly the Engineering Research Lab), and the Missouri Protoplex, a 100,000-square-foot facility designed to transfer S&T research and innovations to industry and to anchor the new research campus overlooking Interstate 44.
This focus on economic activity is another legacy of the Kummer gift, as is the creation of the Kummer College of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development. This year, we welcomed the founding dean, James D. Sterling, to campus. We are excited about his plans to transform the intellectual, entrepreneurial and educational landscape of S&T.
There are many other examples of the transformational effect the Kummer gift is having on S&T. To name just a few, the Ignition Grant Initiative and Kummer research centers are sparking new directions in research, K–12 educational initiatives led by the Kummer Center for STEM Education continue to expand S&T’s STEM outreach, and the Kummer gift continues to enable new faculty endowments and degree programs.
As always, if you want to know more about the Kummer Institute, don’t hesitate to contact us at ki@mst.edu.
Cordially,
Richard K. Brow
Executive Director of Operations, Kummer Institute for Student Success, Research and Economic Development