COLUMBUS — Building on 50 years of partnership with the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), the Nationwide Foundation is contributing $7 million to support the college’s vision of a modern land-grant institution with a mission to sustain life.
“The Nationwide Foundation is proud to make this contribution to Ohio State and see our collaborative efforts around food production, security, and sustainability take a giant leap forward,” said Nationwide Foundation President Chad Jester. “Together, we share a long-term vision with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences that assures the land-grant mission of sustaining life remains strong for generations to come.”
Translating research
The Nationwide Foundation gift supports initiatives in translating research and making it accessible, as well as strategic collaboration, workforce development, and new facilities. This new gift brings total contributions to $11.8 million for the CFAES collaborative over the past several years.
The largest part of the gift, $5 million, supports constructing new facilities and infrastructure at Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory, a key facility on the Columbus campus.
Research projects
Last year alone, more than 100 active research projects, and more than 200 outreach programs took place at Waterman. Waterman is also home to a multitude of college-credit courses encompassing everything from beekeeping to biogeography.
Nationwide Foundation’s lead gift will support CFAES’ goal to engage every undergraduate student in some aspect of the Waterman experience dedicated to food security, production, or sustainability during his or her time at Ohio State.
The plan for Waterman includes a Controlled Environment Food Production Research Complex with a state-of-the-art greenhouse production system. In addition, there will be a new multispecies animal learning center, the Kunz-Brundige Franklin County Extension Building, which is currently being built, and a modernization of the dairy facility.
With the remaining $2 million, the Nationwide Foundation is contributing to programming initiatives focused on the land-grant mission, including broadening lifelong learning opportunities to strengthen the workforce, and strengthening leadership programming for CFAES students.
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