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In 1997 the International Engineering Program found a new home on campus in the rather rundown SAE Fraternity building on Upper College Road. With help from several donors and a sizeable mortgage (!), the building underwent major renovations in preparation for its charter residents in the fall semester of 1998. The IEP House has served since then as the regular home for 40 IEP students and as the administrative and programmatic headquarters for the IEP.
Based on the success of the IEP House as a living and learning community and the continued growth of the program, it was decided to expand to a second building. With support from IEP Advisory Board Chair Heidi Kirk Duffy, the Texas Instruments Corporation, Sensate Technologies, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, and the Max Kade Foundation, the IEP was able to purchase the Chi Phi Fraternity building next door to the IEP House and commence with a $1.5 million renovation in December 2006. Now known as the Texas Instruments House, this building is the home for 35 additional IEP students as well as the dining center for residents of both houses. Summer 2007 was the expected completion date for all renovations and the house was dedicated on September 28.
Dr. Heidi Kirk Duffy is a native German who has been living in Rhode Island for most of her life. She has served in the role of IEP Advisory Board Chair since its inception almost twenty years ago. A powerful supporter of the IEP, she has helped forge many connections with business and industry in Germany, and she has been a generous donor and worker on behalf of the program. For her work on behalf of the IEP and other organizations in the State of Rhode Island, Heidi Kirk Duffy was awarded an honorary doctorate from URI and the Federal Cross of Honor by the Federal Republic of Germany.
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