[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 80 (Thursday, May 31, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E934-E935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING THE OPENING OF THE LOUIS AND BEATRICE LAUFER CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. TIMOTHY H. BISHOP

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 31, 2012

  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Doctors 
Henry and Marsha Laufer and their family for the many outstanding 
contributions to scientific research and learning on the occasion of 
the opening of the new Louis and Beatrice Laufer Center for Physical 
and Quantitative Biology at Stony Brook University in my district.
  For more than forty years, the Laufer family has demonstrated an 
unyielding commitment and tremendous generosity with their time, 
talents and resources in supporting Stony Brook University. Their 
influence and many contributions have made an indelible impact on the 
campus and surrounding community.
  Dr. Henry Laufer is a former member of Stony Brook's faculty who won 
the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and helped distinguish the 
Mathematics Department through his breakthrough work on complex 
variables and algebraic topology. Dr. Marsha Laufer is a

[[Page E935]]

former speech pathologist and research associate professor in the 
School of Allied Health Professions who directed graduate student 
research, taught courses in research design and communications 
disorders, and is a founding member of the Friends of Staller Center 
Advisory Council.
  The culmination of these ongoing efforts is the May 7, 2012 opening 
of the newly remodeled building to house the Laufer Center on Stony 
Brook's campus. The Center was established in 2008 in loving memory of 
Louis and Beatrice Laufer by their children Helen Laufer Kaplan and 
Howard Kaplan, Jeffrey and Barbara Laufer, and Henry and Marsha Laufer. 
At that time, Stony Brook University President Shirley Kenny praised 
the Laufers as ``people of remarkable vision and generosity'' and 
recognized the Center's potential to ``explore new frontiers in 
research and education and . . . have a profound impact on the future 
of biomedical research and health care for generations to come.''
  The Center brings together academic experts and students in math, 
physics, genetics, biochemistry, engineering, and computer sciences to 
advance research and innovation that will lead to groundbreaking 
discoveries in biology and medicine. The Center uses an 
interdisciplinary approach and involves collaborations among scientists 
at Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold 
Spring Harbor Laboratory to provide an important interface between the 
physical and life sciences.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to have known the Laufer family for many 
years and am very proud to call them close friends of mine. They are a 
great source of inspiration, enthusiasm, and dedication to major 
advances in research, learning, and a better a way of life. On behalf 
of New York's first congressional district, I congratulate the Laufer 
family for its generosity and outstanding contributions to Stony Brook 
University and to our community on this occasion marking the opening of 
the Louis and Beatrice Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative 
Biology.

                          ____________________