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Ecolab Gifts 'U' $5M For Research Into Environmental Sustainability

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Ecolab has pledged to give a $5 million gift to the University of Minnesota.

The gift is intended to support research and education into environmental sustainability.

"Our gift is designed to support sustainability thought leadership for years to come," Ecolab CEO Douglas M. Baker Jr. said. "Ecolab operates at the nexus of business and sustainability, and this investment from the Ecolab Foundation will encourage collaboration between the University and the business community to ensure a secure, sustainable future for everyone."

It is the largest gift Ecolab has given to the university; $2 million of it will go toward establishing an endowed chair for its Institute on the Environment.

Dr. Jessica Hellmann, director of the Institute on the Environment, said "public-private partnerships are essential to making real progress on sustainability and addressing the impacts of climate change. The global economic impact of climate change and other stressors make this work truly imperative, for Minnesota and around the globe."

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