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Other important Building and Grounds projects included the $1.7 million replacement of the complete HVAC systems in Demerec Laboratory and Bush Auditorium, which was accomplished, with the help of a cool summer, without shutting down the facilities. The lighting systems in these buildings and in Delbrück Laboratory were also upgraded, and throughout the Laboratory, all high-horsepower variable-speed drives were replaced. Savings from these renovations and previously completed energy savings programs should exceed $300,000 on an annual basis. The former Mathews' laboratory in Demerec was completely rebuilt, and in Beckman Center, a laser lab, wet lab, and office were created for Karel Svoboda from previous storage areas. In 1999, Karel will move his new photon laser imaging technology to the Edward and Nancy Marks Imaging Building, which is now under construction. The new imaging technology makes it possible for the first time to study individual neurons and circuits in the brain of living and behaving animals.
Much appreciated by the Laboratory staff are two newly constructed sand volleyball courts and a state-of-the-art fitness center. Under the very able direction of Dan Miller, the overall Laboratory grounds have never looked better. There is much new landscaping on the north campus near Ballybung, and Airslie, and around the new Lindsay Child Care Center and the Richards Building and facilities complex. Much credit should also be given to the people who provide the constant internal and external maintenance of our more than 50 buildings on the main campus, Banbury Center, the DNA Learning Center, and at Uplands Farm.
During the year, there were significant changes in the leadership of important administrative areas-development, public affairs, and library services. These were previously the sole responsibility of Susan Cooper, who has moved on to a new challenge as Director of Institutional Advancement at the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, New York. As discussed earlier in the Highlights section of this report, Susan contributed greatly to a broad spectrum of Laboratory activities and she is sorely missed. Prior to her departure, it had been decided to separate the departments of Development and Public Affairs and recruit new leadership for each. After an extensive search, we were successful in attracting Rick Cosnotti, who joined us in November as Chief Development Officer. Rick has had many years of professional experience with major gifts and capital campaigns with the well-known development consulting firm of Ketcham, Inc. Most recently, he was Director of Development of the Episcopal Theological Seminary of New York. After a short stay in a Williams House apartment, Rick and his wife Shari, who is the new Curate at St. John's of Cold Spring Harbor, are now happily moved into the Galehouse residence on the spectacular waterfront between Airslie and Ballybung. As our new Chief Development Officer, Rick will have his hands full with the large and important fund-raising tasks immediately ahead.
To direct Public Affairs, we have been fortunate in attracting Deborah Barnes, a frequent visitor in the past to Laboratory meetings. Deborah has a Ph.D. in biology from Georgetown University, was a postdoc at Harvard Medical School, taught biology, wrote for the news department of the journal Science, and was Editor of the Journal of NIH Research. She is now completing several assignments for the National Institutes of Health and will join the Laboratory on a full-time basis in July. Her primary focus at the Laboratory will be to increase the visibility of our research and education programs with the media and to make our community outreach programs even more interesting.
For the Library, the task was relatively easy. We already had the able services of Margaret Henderson as Head of Library Services, and we confidently appointed her as the new Director of Libraries. Margaret will undertake a thorough study of our future library needs, including the implications and fast-growing requirements of electronic media. With the help of a consultant, she will draw up a plan for improving the organization and usefulness of the very important archives of the Laboratory's 108-year history.
As the Laboratory continues to grow, the task of managing its finances has become more complex. Our long-term Controller, Bill Keen, can be counted on to make all surprises pleasant ones, and he deals most efficiently with the frequently changing standards for not-for-profit fund accounting. In October, Bill's assistant Kathy Didie, moved to a position at CMP Media, Inc. We are fortunate to have as her replacement Lari Russo, who joined the Laboratory in January, in time to be much involved in the year-end closing, annual audit, and 1998 budget.
The Grants Management, Human Resources, and Purchasing Departments, under the leadership of Susan Schultz, Cheryl Sinclair, and Phil Lembo, respectively, each year provide effective and very necessary support across a broad spectrum of Laboratory activities. Roberta Salant, Administrative Assistant to both John Maroney and me, also manages the often-complex task of providing for the meeting arrangements and other needs of our Board of Trustees and its many committees.
As we look forward to the years immediately ahead, there are several important new projects in various stages of development that would substantially expand the scope of the Laboratory's activities. In November, the Board of Trustees, subject to the approval of the N.Y. State Board of Regents, decided to establish a graduate degree-granting program at the Laboratory. A graduate school would complement our long-standing program with SUNY Stony Brook, which currently involves approximately 50 students. The new CSHL graduate school would be a unique accelerated program with a matriculating class of about five students of exceptional caliber each year. As such, it would require only minor refurbishment of existing facilities on our Laurel Hollow campus.
The Board of Trustees has also authorized the purchase of a 60,000-sq. ft. building located on 12 acres in Woodbury near the Long Island Expressway. This facility would be used by the Laboratory as a high-tech center for gene sequencing and DNA chip technologies and as a home for the editorial and fulfillment activities of our academic press.
In March, Governor George Pataki came to Long Island and announced his support for a CSHL-associated Biotechnology Park. The Park would be fully financed by the State of New York and located on property owned by SUNY at Farmingdale on Route 110, about 20 minutes driving time from the Laboratory. The Park will be designed to attract young companies that are commercializing new technologies from the Laboratory, as well as other companies that are located elsewhere but would value close association with the Laboratory's research and education programs. The 1998 New York State Budget, which has now passed, includes approximately $14 million for this project.
As we consider the challenges and opportunities inherent in these and other programs, we have decided to increase the depth of administrative management at the Laboratory. We are very pleased that W. Dillaway Ayres, a resident of Laurel Hollow, has agreed to join us as Associate Administrative Director. Dill is well known in the community and at the Laboratory, where he has served as a Director of the CSHL Association. He is a graduate of Princeton University and received an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business Administration. He has extensive business experience in the areas of corporate planning and finance.
All in all, it is a very exciting time at the Laboratory. Our science and education programs are first-rate, and we have both the management and financial strength to be confident of remaining a world center of biology.
G. Morgan Browne
Administrative Director
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