PPG Supports Coatings and Polymeric Materials at NDSU With $40G Donation

PPG showed its support for North Dakota State University’s new Coatings and Polymeric Materials Department with a $40,000 donation given to the NDSU Foundation and Alumni Association.

Of that money, $30,000 of it is a grant from the PPG Foundation to cover infrastructure, equipment, faculty and other costs related to establishing the program, according to PPG’s Director of Corporate Communications Mark Silvey.

The remaining $10,000 will go towards a scholarship fund, Silvey added. 

The Fargo-based university’s long-standing coatings and polymeric materials program is one of few programs in the world that provides academic research and education focused on polymer organic coatings, per Silvey.

“There is currently a need for an academic program in the U.S. offering training in color technology, because there is a great demand from employers like PPG to fill color-science roles in the paints and coatings, cosmetics, plastics, and agriculture industries, to name just a few,” said Dean C. Webster, NDSU’s department chair.

PPG scientists have served on the NDSU Coatings and Polymeric Materials Industrial Advisory Board, which guides the curriculum, according to Silvey.

“PPG values North Dakota State University’s coatings and polymeric materials department because it helps prepare students for careers that relate directly to PPG’s business,” said Bill Eibon, PPG director of technology acquisition for automotive coatings, and an NDSU advisory board member.