The dedication of Science Hall represents the culmination of a decade of planning for the natural and social sciences at Lawrence. As we celebrate the opening of this facility, I am mindful of the many individuals who collaborated to make Science Hall a reality: the faculty members who articulated the vision for our science programs and planned the spaces within this new building; the Board of Trustees, who maintained a firm commitment to keeping Lawrence’s science programs ranked with the best among liberal arts colleges; the fine counsel and architectural expertise of Ellenzweig Associates; the dedicated work of the Oscar J. Boldt Construction Company; and, of course, the generous donors who contributed toward this project and thereby assisted the college in meeting one of its most critical capital needs.
The impetus behind the construction of Science Hall is a flourishing science program, one that has been on a steady upward trajectory for the past several decades. Nearly one-fourth of all Lawrence students major in some area of the sciences or mathematics, and the faculty are among the nation’s finest teachers, committed to engaging students in discovery-based learning at all levels of instruction. Our science majors are being admitted to top graduate programs, working as teachers in our secondary schools, and pursuing an interesting and diverse array of other occupations in science, health, and technology fields. The natural sciences also play a prominent role in the general education of all Lawrentians, regardless of major. Our science curricula provide for students a way of interpreting and understanding new developments in science and their implications for society.
Lawrence is not alone in devoting substantial resources to improve its science facilities; in fact, it would be difficult to find a nationally ranked liberal arts college that has not undertaken construction or renovation of a science facility in recent years. An estimated $2 billion is invested annually in the planning and construction of facilities that support teaching and research in the sciences, mathematics, engineering, and technology fields. Teaching methods and modes of conducting research have changed in significant ways since 1964, when Lawrence made its most recent major investment in science facilities through the construction of Youngchild Hall. The design of Science Hall reflects, embraces, and promotes those changes.
In planning this new facility, we learned much from our peers across the country through the work of Project Kaleidoscope, a National Science Foundation-funded effort devoted to improving undergraduate science education nationwide. Members of our faculty have participated in facilities-planning workshops and other initiatives sponsored by Project Kaleidoscope to help refine their vision for science education at Lawrence. Science Hall incorporates the knowledge and trends that are shaping undergraduate science education nationally.
Science Hall is the second and most ambitious phase of a three-phase plan to provide Lawrence with state-of-the-art facilities for its programs in the natural and social sciences. Phase I, the construction of Briggs Hall (1997), serves as a splendid home for the college’s programs in mathematics, computer sciences, and the social sciences, and — like Science Hall — takes advantage of its riverfront location. Youngchild Hall, the third and final phase of this initiative, will undergo a major renovation in the 2000-2001 academic year, and — when completed — will serve as the home for geology, most of physics, and portions of biology. Thus, by the beginning of the 2001-2002 academic year, Lawrence will have three interconnected major facilities devoted to these important elements of the college’s academic programs.
As you peruse the following pages and learn more about the programs housed in Science Hall and the spaces that support them, I hope you are filled with a sense of pride in Lawrence’s past traditions, its current strengths, and its future promise.
Richard Warch