CIMS building to be named after Louise Slaughter

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter has been designated the namesake of the building that houses the university's Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies (CIMS) by the RIT Board of Trustees. The formal naming of the Louise M. Slaughter Building will take place in the spring of 2001, the fifth anniversary of the opening of the facility.

The action to name the building for Slaughter recognizes her many efforts on behalf of RIT, and especially her support for CIMS since its inception in 1990. The building that houses CIMS was constructed with funds from the federal government and the state of New York, and completed in 1996. Slaughter played the key role in securing a total of $11.25 million in federal funds to help build the facility. Since then, she also has been instrumental in securing funding for CIMS' research activities, including $8 million for a defense-research program with the Office of Naval Research.

In addition to her efforts on behalf of CIMS, Slaughter has played a key role in supporting federal funding for other RIT programs, including the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and student financial-aid programs such as Pell Grants and College Work Study. "It is fitting for us to recognize Louise Slaughter in this way for her extraordinary efforts on behalf of RIT," says William Buckingham, chairman of RIT's Board of Trustees. "Louise has been a key champion of CIMS since its inception. She recognized early on the value that such a facility at RIT would bring to the Rochester community and the manufacturing sector, and she continues to be a staunch advocate on our behalf in Washington, D.C." "One of my goals, as Congresswoman, has been to prepare my district for the 21st century," says Slaughter. "I am grateful to President Simone, to Chairman Buckingham and to the Board of Trustees for recognizing my work in this way."