UF RECEIVES $4.2 MILLION GIFT FROM A COLLECTOR

[Ron Gatrelle]

Does this donation mean that the Bulletin of The Allyn Museum will once
again become a viable publication? Three years ago the Bulletin had its
financial legs jerked out from under it by UF policy (my info comes from a
personal conversation with AME staff). Since it only costs about 600 to
1000 dollars to publish most AME Bulletins I would think that just a tiny
portion of the interest earned on William (Bill) McGuire's donation would
take care of that.
 
Bill was (is?) an avid skipper collector for those who do not know of  him.
Now that he has donated such a massive amount to "conservation and
research" I wonder if the collectors-are-murderers crowd will consider this
as pennants so they can release Bill from their collector's Hell or at
least move him over to the NABA Limbo.
 
Nothing brings out the hypocrisy in people like money.
 
PS. Bill, when are you going to describe the Hesperia meskei ssp from the
keys? I see on my last research visit to the FSCA that you still have their
specimens on loan. You're one of the good guys Bill. I hope UF spends the
money wisely.
 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Quinn" <Mike.Quinn at tpwd.state.tx.us>
To: "Leps-L (E-mail)" <LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu>
Cc: "Ed Riley (E-mail)" <EGRchryso at tamu.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 11:48 AM
Subject: UF RECEIVES $4.2 MILLION GIFT FOR NEW LEPIDOPTERA CENTER
 
 
>
> UF RECEIVES $4.2 MILLION GIFT FOR NEW LEPIDOPTERA CENTER
> One of world's largest butterfly collections to be kept in new facilities
>
> Jan. 5, 2001
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
> ----
>
> GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Butterflies by the millions will have a new place
to
> call home at the University of Florida, thanks to a major gift to
construct
> two new buildings for Lepidoptera research and public exhibits,
university
> officials announced today (1/5).
>
> William and Nadine McGuire of Wayzata, Minn., have given $4.2 million to
the
> University of Florida for the facilities and to establish the William W.
and
> Nadine M. McGuire Center for Lepidoptera Research. The gift is one of the
> largest private gifts ever given to foster research on insects and is
> eligible for an equal match from the state of Florida Alec Courtelis
> Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant Program, which would bring the
total
> amount of the gift to $8.4 million.
>
> The facility, to be named McGuire Hall, will be attached to the existing
> Florida Museum of Natural History's Powell Hall. The proposed
> 35,000-square-foot Lepidoptera center will be devoted principally to
housing
> one of the world's largest and most complete Lepidoptera collections and
the
> associated research facilities for their study. It also will contain a
> public education and live butterfly exhibit. The center is projected to
open
> in early 2003.
>
> The McGuire's gift also will allow for construction of a
6,000-square-foot
> building adjacent to UF's entomology and nematology building. The new
> facility will be named the William W. and Nadine M. McGuire Center for
> Insect Conservation.
>
> "Lepidoptera research is a vital area to the study of ailing ecosystems
> because butterflies are an indicator species for how the environment is
> faring as a whole," said William McGuire. "The University of Florida and
its
> multidisciplinary approach to research, coupled with the state of
Florida's
> commitment to the environment, made our choice to invest in the
University
> of Florida an easy one."
>
> The Florida Museum of Natural History and UF's departments of zoology and
> entomology have been seeking space to house a collection of more than 1
> million butterflies currently kept in UF's Allyn Museum of Entomology in
> Sarasota, Fla. Donated to the university in 1981 by businessman Arthur
> Allyn, the Sarasota facility reached capacity several years ago.
>
> "The McGuire Center will help to bring one of the world's finest
assemblages
> of research materials together at the University of Florida to help
answer
> fundamental questions in biology, where since Darwin's day, butterflies
and
> moths have been used to study evolutionary change, ecological questions,
and
> even as models to research genetic and developmental problems in humans,"
> said Tom Emmel, zoology professor and director of UF's Division of
> Lepidoptera Research. "The collections to be kept in the new facilities
>
> will also preserve for study in perpetuity samples of biodiversity from
the
> tropics and temperate regions worldwide that can never be gathered again,
> due to habitat destruction and environmental change."
>
> McGuire received his bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at
> Austin and his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch
at
> Galveston. He is chairman and CEO of UnitedHealth Group. Nadine McGuire
also
> is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. The McGuires are
> long-time enthusiasts of Lepidoptera and environmental studies and have
> donated more than 30,000 butterflies to UF in the past.
>
> The McGuire's gift is part of the University of Florida's five-year
capital
> campaign, which ended on Dec. 31. The "It's Performance That Counts"
> campaign raised private gifts for UF scholarships, faculty positions,
> facilities and technological enhancements to help the university produce
> top-quality performance in teaching and research. As of Nov. 30, the
> campaign had raised more than $789 million in private commitments and
state
> matching support for the university. The final total for the campaign is
> expected to be announced next week.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
> ----
> Writer: Chris Brazda, (352) 392-1633, cbrazda at uff.ufl.edu
> Sources: William McGuire, (952) 936-1201
> Tom Emmel, (352) 392-5894, tcemmel at ufl.edu
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
> ----
>
>  http://www.napa.ufl.edu/2001news/butterfl.htm
>
>
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