Corporate and public sector representatives broke ground Friday for the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on University Avenue.

Gov. Jim Doyle, University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley, UW alumni John and Tasha Morgridge and executive members from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation attended the ceremony.

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery was made possible by a $50 million gift from the Morgridges, matched by $50 million from the state and $50 million from WARF.

The event also marked Wiley’s final groundbreaking as chancellor. Wiley said he is proud to have his last ceremony to be for the “most impressive building on our campus, and perhaps on campuses around the world.”

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, situated on the 1300 block of University Avenue, will be used to promote collaboration between private and publicly funded research.

The twin research institutions housed within the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery building will be the privately run Morgridge Institute for Research and the public Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

Carl Gulbrandsen, WARF managing director, said in this case “the sum is greater than the parts,” leading to “enormously rich resources” for research endeavors.

“It combines the best of the public with the best of the private,” Gulbrandsen added.

The institution will be used to combine nanotechnology, biology, engineering, information technology and other disciplines to promote research in the state, with the flexibility of private funding.

Marsha Mailick-Seltzer, interim director of the future Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery and current director of UW’s Waisman Center, said the power of collaboration would promote the “finest teaching and research opportunities.”

“When smart people from different fields come together, exciting things happen,” Mailick-Seltzer added.

Doyle said the growing field of biotechnology is an important key to the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, and the Morgridge Institute for Research offers exciting economic rewards for Wisconsin. According to Doyle, biotechnology is a $500 billion industry.

“It will fire Wisconsin’s economy and push us toward our goal of holding 10 percent of the market by 2015,” Doyle said.

In addition to helping fund the reconstruction of the Red Gym and numerous other projects on the UW campus, the Morgridges’ donation to the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery is the “largest single gift ever given to the university,” Gulbrandsen said.

John Morgridge stressed the importance of public and private collaboration, and the importance of good information transfer between research institutions.

The institutes will stimulate research, as the industry is competitive by nature, Morgridge added.

Tashia Morgridge also spoke about the project, emphasizing its importance to education.

“The multi-story teaching and laboratory facility will expose students to world-class thinking and learning,” she said.

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery and the Morgridge Institute for Research are expected to open their doors in 2010.