Hardwood tree gift has roots in chance meeting
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A portion of the estate given to Purdue's hardwood Tree
Improvement and Regeneration Center overlooks the Yaquina River
along Oregon's central coast.
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By TOM CAMPBELL
The second largest gift to the College of Agriculture has been given by
a man who never set foot on Purdue's West Lafayette campus.
Fred van Eck left a gift of $21 million to be used by the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center (HTIRC).
The van Eck gift is second only to the $24 million John S. Wright endowment,
established in 1964. The Wright and van Eck gifts both were made to
Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.
"We are very grateful to Mr. van Eck for this wonderful gift," says
Vic
Lechtenberg, dean of Purdue's College of Agriculture. "It will elevate
our research program in hardwood tree improvement and make Purdue the
place to go for research and education in this important area."
A New York-based financier, van Eck decided to put the Department of
Forestry and Natural Resources and its Hardwood Tree Improvement and
Regeneration Center (HTIRC) in his will shortly before he died March
15, 2000.
The estate was officially settled at the end of June.
His gift was prompted by a presentation by the center's director, Charles
Michler (pronounced MICK-ler).
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