A UIHistories Project by Kalev Leetaru
 Grainger Engineering LibraryThe Grainger library was dedicated on the 59th anniversary of the University of Illinois Foundation, October 14, 1994. The dedication proceedings, entitled a "Gateway to a New Era", established the largest engineering library in the country, with over 92,000 square feet holding more than 300,000 volumes In keeping with the building's cutting edge technical advancements, the ribbon cutting ceremony was a purely digital affair. President Stanley Ikenberry, Chancellor Michael Aiken, and David Grainger, representing his father, William Wallace Grainger, "pressed assigned areas on a computer touch screen to change a computerized red ribbon into a visual explosion of fireworks". In keeping with the building's cutting edge technical advancements, the ribbon cutting ceremony was a purely digital affair. President Stanley Ikenberry, Chancellor Michael Aiken, and David Grainger, representing his father, William Wallace Grainger, "pressed assigned areas on a computer touch screen to change a computerized red ribbon into a visual explosion of fireworks".
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