UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- An internship done by Penn State dairy science student Jeanne Claycomb in Somerset County more than 50 years ago has ultimately led to a $3 million gift to the University.

As an intern at a dairy processing plant, Claycomb met and later married Earl Berkey, whose family owned and operated the plant. Jeanne and Earl Berkey eventually assumed ownership of the plant and operated it until 1968 as the Berkey Milk Co. They recently decided to give back to Penn State in the form of a $3 million donation to help construct the Food Science Building.

Now in the planning stage, the building will contain laboratories, classrooms, offices, pilot-scale processing facilities, and a new Creamery manufacturing and sales area. It will be located about a block east of the current facility, the 68-year-old Borland Lab. The new creamery facility, to be located on the first floor of the new Food Science Building, will be known as The Berkey Creamery in recognition of the couple's generosity.

"The Creamery is a Penn State tradition and hosts thousands of visitors every year, so how appropriate for Penn State to receive this marvelous gift from a couple who have devoted so much of their lives to the dairy industry," said University President Graham Spanier. "Our patrons will still experience the same great Penn State ice cream and other dairy products they have grown to love since the Creamery first opened in Borland Lab nearly 70 years ago. The more modern facilities and equipment of The Berkey Creamery at Penn State will benefit patrons, food science researchers and students alike."

The building is estimated to cost $22 million in combined private, state and University funds. Design for the building is scheduled to begin in 2003 and the building is to be finished early in 2006, according to the University's five-year capital plan.

Jeanne Claycomb Berkey, a Bedford County native, is a 1948 Penn State graduate. Earl Berkey, a Somerset County native, is a 1948 graduate of the University of Iowa and the Penn State Creamery Short Course. Earl Berkey's father, L. Clayton Berkey, entered the dairy business in Somerset in 1925. After Jeanne and Earl Berkey sold the plant, they continued in the retail ice cream business until 1977, after which Earl turned his attention full-time to banking. He retired in 1983. The Berkeys now divide their residence between Somerset and Phoenix, Ariz.

"Four of our superintendents were Penn State graduates, and we did milk testing in our plant for the University, so we've had a good relationship with Penn State over the years," said Earl Berkey.

Jeanne Berkey noted the importance of dairying in their professional and family lives. "Earl and I met in the dairy business, and it's been very good to us, so making this gift seemed the natural thing to do," she said.

Robert Steele, dean of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, said the new Food Science Building will help the University better serve the needs of Pennsylvania's food processing and manufacturing industry, which includes more than 2,300 companies employing 90,000 workers.

"As former dairy plant operators, Jeanne and Earl Berkey know first-hand the importance of research, education and technology transfer in the food industry," Steele said. "Penn State has been a positive force in Pennsylvania agriculture for nearly a century and a half, but the fact is, many of our current facilities are out of date and inadequate. The new building will enable us to give our students and faculty state-of-the-art research and teaching experiences, and to develop more productive collaborations with our industry partners.

"We hope the Berkeys' generosity will inspire other individuals and companies in the food industry to help us make certain that our new food science building will best meet the needs of our students and the food industry."

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