The Nation - News from Oct. 6, 1985

The University of Illinois at Urbana said it will build a $50-million research institute where scientists from many fields will focus on the processes of the human brain and how they might apply to computers. Their work may lead to a better understanding of how learning occurs and how machines can be made to learn. They will focus also on developments in medicine and factory automation, more powerful computers and improved air traffic control. The institute was made possible by a $40-million gift by industrialist Arnold Beckman, believed to be the largest gift by an individual to a public university.