Wayne State University has received a $7.77 million grant from the A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Fund of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. A. Paul Schaap, former Wayne State University chemistry professor and founder of Southfield-based Lumigen Inc., and his wife Carol, recommended the grant to support expansion of the Chemistry Building and the A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Endowed Distinguished Graduate Stipend Fund at Wayne State University. Wayne State University, pending approval by the Board of Governors, will name the Chemistry Building the “A. Paul Schaap Chemistry Building” and the lecture hall within the building the “A. Paul Schaap Lecture Hall.”

Schaap, who retired from the university in 2000 to become the full-time president of Lumigen, has maintained strong ties to the university. He hopes that the grant will provide the foundation and resources to further the Department of Chemistry’s reputation for attracting world-class scholars and researchers.

“Carol and I are grateful to Wayne State University and we wanted to give back,” Schaap said. “We appreciate what the university offered us during our 30-year affiliation, particularly my teaching and research experience that contributed in large measure to the founding of Lumigen. This grant is both an expression of gratitude and a stake in the future of Wayne State and its students.”

Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid shares Schaap’s vision of building a stronger chemistry department. “Dr. Schaap’s generosity will distinguish Wayne State’s chemistry department as a leading force in academic research and learning,” Reid said. “The planned expansion of the Chemistry Building and the endowment fund will have a profound influence on our ability to expand research opportunities while attracting outstanding faculty and PhD students into the program.”

Expansion of the Chemistry Building will allow for a common space for studying and group interaction; a chair’s office suite; and a lecture hall to accommodate large groups. These improvements will help ensure security throughout the building, an important amenity for researchers and students and for protecting intellectual property. The lecture hall also will be a venue for scientific meetings and conferences in conjunction with the university’s Welcome Center.

During his tenure in the chemistry department, Schaap and his research team developed a novel luminescent compound called a 1,2-dioxetane which can be triggered to produce light in medical tests, called immunoassays, to provide evidence of certain diseases in patients. The discovery of an efficient light-emitting molecule in mid-1986 evolved into a compound that is used worldwide to diagnose AIDS, cancer, hepatitis and other diseases.

In 1987 this discovery led Schaap to found Lumigen, now the world’s largest supplier of chemiluminescent reagents to the clinical immunodiagnostics market. Lumigen Inc. was recently acquired by Beckman Coulter.

Schaap’s bond with Wayne State University began more than 30 years ago when he was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. His wife, Carol, was secretary to the chemistry chair; she later was secretary to then-President David Adamany until 1990.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.