Monday, November 17, 2003

For Immediate Release

Tri-State University President Earl D. Brooks, II, announced this morning that Dr. Clifford W. Sponsel, a 1931 Tri-State civil engineering graduate and trustee emeritus who now lives in Santa Barbara, CA, has contributed $1 million toward the renovation of Sniff Hall.

The Lilly Endowment of Indianapolis has offered to match virtually all gifts to Indiana universities and colleges through Dec. 31, 2003. The program is called the Special Initiative to Strengthen Philanthropy for Indiana Higher Education Institutions. Thanks to this special initiative, Sponsel’s gift to Tri-State becomes $2 million.

"Like many of our graduates from before World War II, Dr. Sponsel has a strong attachment to the (Sniff) administration building," said Brooks. "It will be a real joy to see this historical building once again be a functional part of campus."

In honor of the gift, the building will house the Sponsel Administration Center.

Sponsel was born in upstate New York on a fruit farm. His father was an early enthusiast of mechanized equipment. As a result, Cliff learned to drive at age 5. This early influence is still evident in his hobby—collecting and restoring antique automobiles.

Sponsel spent his career as an aeronautical engineer. He started as a project engineer for General Motors Corp., then moved onto high level positions with Glenn Martin Co., Bell Aircraft Corp., and Ryan Aeronautics Corp. He was subsequently an owner and CEO of Western Design & Manufacturing, and later, Spectral Dynamics.

Throughout the years, Sponsel generously supported Tri-State. He served on the TSU Board of Trustees from 1978 to 1999. During the mid 1990s renovation of Fawick Hall, which turned the building into one of the finest small college engineering facilities in the Midwest, Sponsel provided funding to construct the central entrance, including an elevator that brings the building into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The University has honored Sponsel’s support in several ways. In 1977, he was presented with a Distinguished Service Award. In 1985, Tri-State conferred on him the honorary degree Doctor of Engineering. In 1996, in recognition of his Fawick contribution, the school named the building’s main entrance Sponsel Tower.

Built in 1887, just three years after the beginning of the school, Sniff Hall has provided space for classrooms, laboratories, a library, a theater and offices. Its name recognizes Tri-State’s second president and the man largely credited with the school’s early survival, Littleton M. Sniff. (Sniff served two terms as president, from 1885-1909 and 1910-1922.)

Sponsel’s gift will be used to begin renovation of the building. One aspect of the plan is to recreate a north entrance, which would face the campus’s main drive, University Avenue.

Once the building is completely renovated, administration and institutional advancement offices now housed in Shambaugh Hall will once again return to the Sponsel Administration Center. The renovation will also include additional classroom space.

This fall, Tri-State welcomed its largest freshman class in recent years and the University has been aggressively adding programs, including its first ever graduate program, the Master of Science in Engineering Technology.

"The renovation of this building is another step in Tri-State’s master plan," said Brooks. "This will create an inviting, aesthetically pleasing entrance to campus, plus provide space that we’ll need for a growing student body and program offerings. Dr. Sponsel has always been a person who looks forward, and we’re very thankful he shares our vision of the future for Tri-State."

Tri-State University is an independent, co-educational institution offering associate, baccalaureate and master degrees in over 40 programs to students in engineering, mathematics, science, computer science, business administration, teacher education, communications, criminal justice and social sciences. Founded in 1884, Tri-State today operates a 485-acre main campus in Angola, IN, with off-campus centers in Fort Wayne, South Bend and Merrillville, IN.

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Tri-State University • Office of Public Relations •  (260) 665-4119 • sauerl@tristate.edu 

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