Couple donates $1.6 million for UW-Milwaukee science complex

By James Briggs

A Milwaukee couple has made a $1.6 million donation toward a new science complex for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The gift from philanthropists Isabel and Alfred Bader will support construction of the $75 million Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex on the university’s east-side campus.

The state of Wisconsin will pay for most of the project, but asked UW-Milwaukee to raise the amount the Baders wound up gifting the school, spokeswoman Patricia Borger said.

“This is the first big gift,” she said. “If we raise more, that’s good, but this is the minimum.”

Construction is set to begin on the building in 2012, with expected completion in 2015. It will be the first new UW-Milwaukee building in more than a decade.

“We are deeply grateful for this cornerstone support … for what will become the showcase facility at the new gateway to our campus,” UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Michael Lovell said in a prepared statement.

The Baders did not attend UW-Milwaukee, Borger said, but Alfred Bader has long donated money for scholarships and a summer exchange program at the school.

Once completed, the science complex will combine researchers working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.