Atlanta philanthropist donates $5 million to GSU for science building

<p>An Atlanta philanthropist is donating $5 million to Georgia State University for a new science building, university officials said Tuesday.</p><p>The gift is from Parker H. "Pete" Petit, the founder of Healthdyne. He served as its chairman and chief executive officer until 1996, when the company was split into three public corporations. Then he became chairman of the board of the new entities: Healthdyne Technologies, Healthdyne Information Enterprises and Matria Healthcare.</p><p>Although the building must be approved by the Georgia Board of Regents, the Parker H. Petit Science Teaching Laboratory will be the first building constructed in a planned $200 million University Science Park complex.</p><p>Petit attended the university at night and received a MBA degree in finance in 1973. Petit endowed the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology and assisted in the funding of the biotechnology building on the Georgia Tech campus.</p>