20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Events were held over Friday and Saturday, June 10th and 11th, to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the BioTechnology Institute. Professor Robert Brooker began the Friday symposium by welcoming over 150 attendees to the new Cargill Building of Microbial & Plant Genomics. Victor Bloomfield then spoke on the founding of BTI, and Prof. Michael Flickinger, the first director, talked about the foundation laid in the early years of the Institute's existence. Professors Marty Dworkin and Arnold Fredrickson discussed the Microbial Engineering Graduate Program, and current BTI Director Ken Valentas gave an inside view of BTI faculty before the break for lunch and a student poster competition. Various BTI alumni and industry leaders added perspective to the symposium by discussing the important application of research and work done at the BioTechnology Institute.

Shortly after the symposium ended, a shuttle from the Gortner Lab building left for Harriet Island and a Mississippi River dinner Cruise aboard the historic Harriet Bishop paddle-wheeler, and a picnic was held Saturday on the St. Paul Campus Mall.