Corporate Profile for Worcester Polytechnic Institute, dated Nov. 17, 2000.

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Published Date:   November 17, 2000

Company Name:     Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Address:          100 Institute Road
                  Worcester, MA 01609

Main Telephone
 Number:          508-831-5000

Internet Home
 Page Address
  (URL)           http://www.wpi.edu

Chief Executive
 Officer:         Edward Alton Parrish, President

Chief Financial
 Officer:         Stephen J. Hebert, Treasurer

Business number:  508-831-5200 (President's Office)

Public Relations
 Contact:         Arlie Corday, Assistant Director of Media Relations
PR Telephone
 Number:          508-831-6085
PR E-mail:        [e-mail]
Industry:         eduction/national university
Public Company:   no

Company Description: Founded in 1865, WPI is one of the nation's leading private technological universities. Since its founding days, WPI has been a pioneer in technological education. Its early curriculum was based on balancing theoretical instruction with practical application. In 1970 that model was transformed into a new approach to education that emphasizes outcomes and learning by doing. WPI students gain a depth of understanding of the humanities and arts, they demonstrate their ability to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world problems, and they develop an appreciation for how the solutions to those problems might impact the world around them. This approach has proven to be well suited to preparing young men and women for the demands of life on the brink of a new millennium, and has become a model for change in technological education at the national level. WPI has been a pioneer in global technological education. The University established its first off-campus project center in 1974 in Washington, D.C., and its first international center in 1987 in London. Today, it maintains a network of 18 project centers on six continents. About half of WPI undergraduates complete a project off-campus at these sites, gaining an invaluable global perspective.

WPI awarded its first advanced degree in 1898. Today most of its 14 academic departments offer master's and Ph.D. programs that can be pursued on a full- or part-time basis. Graduate courses and continuing education programs are offered at WPI and at branch campuses in Waltham and Southborough, Mass. The growth of the graduate program has helped the University build research efforts that have earned worldwide recognition in the scientific and engineering communities. With the external support these efforts have attracted, WPI has created a host of advanced research laboratories and built a number of distinctive programs, including a world-renowned graduate program in fire protection engineering and the nation's only undergraduate degree program in system dynamics. WPI's academic and research programs have benefited from the close relationship the University has enjoyed with local, national and international business and industry over the years. Many Worcester area companies were founded by WPI alumni, and graduates of the University continue to be a mainstay of the region's industry. Corporations support WPI's mission by establishing research partnerships, by donating equipment and facilities, and by supporting the University's academic programs and students. In return they have access to potential employees, to the expertise of WPI's renowned faculty, and to educational programs that help build and maintain the skills of their employees. Among those employees are the 3,500 WPI alumni who live and work in Worcester County, employed in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, high-technology, biotechnology, medicine, law, education and government. WPI has also entered into a wide range of partnerships-locally and around the world. Its Metal Processing Institute, the largest industry-university alliance in North America, has partnered with more than 130 corporations. WPI has forged cooperative agreements with major universities from Monterrey, Mexico, to Taipei, Taiwan-including New England universities with which we offer joint-degree programs in veterinary medicine and law. A joint curatorship with the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester is just one example of how our ties to cultural institutions advance education and scholarship.

WPI's most important partnership is with its home city. The University collaborates extensively with the local public schools through student projects, in-service institutes and summer programs that build excitement among young people in science and technology. It also hosts the Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and Science, a publicly funded high school for talented students from throughout Central Massachusetts. In addition, WPI students, faculty and staff perform a broad range of services for local organizations and agencies. To assure that these and other relationships have the greatest benefit to Worcester, they will soon be placed under the umbrella of the Worcester Community Project Center, which will bring students and faculty members together with Worcester citizens in a unique partnership to work toward the development and improvement of the local community.

For more information, contact Neil Norum, WPI Communications Group, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609-2280 l 508-831-5305l fax: [phone] l [e-mail] l www.wpi.edu

Financial Profile:

Operating budget (FY99): $69.8 million

Endowment and Similar Funds: Market value, $254.2 million

Total return (FY98): 16.6%