Gov. Haslam, TBR
Chancellor Morgan help usher in new era
MURFREESBORO — In the newly named Liz and Creighton Rhea
Atrium, a large crowd celebrated Middle Tennessee State University’s new
Science Building — a crown jewel considered the catalyst to the future in
scientific endeavors.
About 300 people
joined Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and university President Sidney A. McPhee
Wednesday (Oct. 15) in christening the 257,000-gross-square-foot Science
Building on the south side of campus.
The $147 million
facility will thrust the MTSU scientific community into fast-forward in terms
of research, collaboration and individual exploration. Six teaching
lecture halls, 13 research laboratories and 36 teaching laboratories are just
the start of the features for the building, which opened more than five months
early. To learn more, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/sciencebuilding/.
To watch video from the ceremony, visit http://youtu.be/9822omJqJ9U.
Haslam, who attended the May 3, 2012, groundbreaking
ceremony, led the collection of guest speakers, who also included Tennessee
Board of Regents Chancellor John Morgan, state Sen. Bill Ketron, and respective
faculty and student representatives Tammy Melton and Kenneth Ball.
“By 2025, at least 55 percent of Tennesseans will need a
certificate or degree beyond high school to find a job,” Haslam said.
“Attracting and growing jobs in Tennessee is directly tied to education, and if
we are not prepared to fill those jobs of the future, they will go somewhere
else.”
“Graduates with STEM degrees are important to our state’s
ability to thrive, and the additional space to train these students — provided
by this building — will help us compete in today’s global economy,” he added.
Haslam challenged
MTSU to produce highly educated, STEM-trained graduates to continue to attract
high-tech jobs for the Midstate workforce.
After thanking many people and those in both the public and
private sector, McPhee told the audience the building was just an abstract
concept — or, better yet, a hope and a dream — especially after an economic
jolt in the form of a recession delayed the state’s number one capital project
in higher education nearly five years.
He praised the governor as well as key legislative leaders,
local state lawmakers and local elected officials “who advocated our need in every corner of the Capitol
until they were heard.”
Speaking on
behalf of the local legislative delegation as its senior member, Ketron,
R-Murfreesboro, recalled the political wrangling needed to move the project
forward, saying, “We weren’t going to let any other (building) project get on
top of the pipeline.” He said there are opportunities for MTSU agriculture in
the world-class facility.
McPhee told the
audience the Science Building “is critical to our continuing efforts to provide
Tennessee with workers equipped for the challenges of the 21st
century workforce, particularly in the science, technology, engineering and
math areas.”
Eighty percent of
the MTSU student population will take classes in the building, which opened
more than five months ahead of schedule, in time for the Aug. 25 first day of
classes.
“Our new Science
Building provides a place of inspiration,” McPhee said. “When you walk the
halls of this building … you will note the glass walls in each of the
laboratories … where you can see for yourself the students and faculty
collaborating on projects and conducting cutting-edge research.”
Faculty member
Tammy Melton, who came to MTSU in 1999, offered words of praise and thanks to
faculty who both preceded her and joined her in the effort to secure the
Science Building.
Some faculty will
be able to “pursue cutting-edge research because now there is the necessary
equipment and the blessed space,” she added. “Our students will be fully
equipped to compete with any other students in the country for jobs in the
sciences, for placement in professional schools and for acceptance into
graduate programs in the United States and abroad.”
“The building is
a magnet,” Melton said in conclusion. “In the recruitment of new students and new faculty, we no longer need to
apologize for existing poor facilities and offer promises of future
construction. In 2014, the 21st century has come to MTSU chemistry and
biology. The future is here. Now.”
Kenneth Ball, a
senior general science major from Savannah, Tennessee, wanted to thank any and
everyone who had a hand in the entire project.
“When I stepped in
the door (Aug. 25), I was blown away,” said Ball, who gave a brief summary of
how things were in Wiser-Patten Science Hall when he attended classes in 2011.
“It was crowded in the Chem I lab (in Wiser-Patten) and there was no place to
study.”
“This is the
best-equipped building,” he said, referring to the Science Building. “It’s no
longer crowded and there are places to study. It’s all directed at us — the
students. I don’t think they could’ve made it any better.”
Donors provide critical
support
McPhee emphasized the critical support secured from donors
to produce the matching funds required as part of state funding of the project.
Dr. Liz Rhea was
among the major private donors who attended the ceremony. She and her late
husband, who died in 2004, have been longtime university donors. She gave “a
generous bequest” early in the private funding process, McPhee said.
“I can’t believe
it. This is just awesome,” said Rhea, an alumna (Class of ’55) and native of
Eagleville, Tennessee, where seeds were planted in elementary school to become
a physician, visiting the building for the first time. “This is more awesome
and grandiose than I could imagine. Even pictures don’t do it justice.”
Students in
pre-med, pre-dental or nursing — and future MTSU students — will have vast
opportunities because of the technology in the facility, she said.
“I feel so
strongly,” Rhea added. “It’s got to start here (Science Building). Here is where
you’ve got to start studying and learn how to study. There is nothing like this
to inspire you or fulfill your dream. … This will help with recruiting of
better qualified students.”
Along with the
Rhea Atrium, one other area of the building funded by donors includes:
• A
state-of-the-art analytical chemistry lab named in honor of Dr. Gale Clark, who
died in 2008. A gift from his estate will fund the lab he helped plan. His
wife, Alee, gave the university their first house in Murfreesboro. Proceeds help
fund a chemistry scholarship.
Among the donors
McPhee recognized were:
• Bev and the
late Doug Kanitz. Years before the state approved funding for the Science
Building, Bev Kanitz, wife of the late engineering technology professor Doug
Kanitz, made a pledge and she gave MTSU their Murfreesboro home when she
decided to move to Cincinnati to be near her adult children;
• The
Christy-Houston Foundation, a Murfreesboro organization led by Bob Mifflin. A
$1.5 million gift from Christy-Houston provided a significant boost during a
six-month period when the university needed to raise $20 million. The
foundation has contributed $8 million to fund the Cason-Kennedy Nursing
Building, the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia, Student
Health Services, Ann Campbell Early Learning Center (former Project Help) and
School of Nursing scholarships;
• Alumna Gayle
Duke (Class of 1965) and her husband, Dwayne, who are including MTSU in their
estate to help future students study science in the new building. After
graduating from the university, she went to work for NASA and had a hand in the
U.S. landing on the moon; and
• Major
commitments from Charlotte and the late George Gardner; Clara Todd; Dr. Dan and
Margaret Scott; the City of Murfreesboro; Rutherford County and the Rutherford
County Industrial Board.
MTSU President
Emeritus Sam Ingram was among those who attended.
Other science news of
note
Wiser-Patten
Science Hall, which opened in 1932, and Davis Science Building, which opened in
’67, will remain open and undergo approximately $20 million in renovation and
upgrades.
Meanwhile, the university learned recently that the Science
Building is a LEED-certified project, achieving Silver-level certification.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, is a set of rating
systems for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of green
buildings, homes and neighborhoods. It is the 254th LEED-certified
project in Tennessee and the largest core learning higher education facility in
the state.
Along with the grand opening and the LEED recognition, the
Department of Physics and Astronomy recently learned the American Physical
Society recognized it for improving undergraduate physics education. The
department has “consciously adopted a mission to provide exceptional classroom
experiences,
career-focused courses and pathways, and intensive research
opportunities to
prepare students for targeted careers,” Deanna Ratnikova of the American
Physical Society said of the honor.
###
About the MTSU Science Building
Groundbreaking date: May
3, 2012
Cost: $147
million ($126.7 million funded by state of Tennessee and more than $20 million
through private donations)
Building size: 257,000
gross square footage
Building features:
In addition to the newly named Liz and Creighton Rhea Atrium and Dr. Gale Clark
Analytical Chemistry Lab, the facility includes six teaching lecture halls, 13
research laboratories and 36 teaching laboratories. Many of the labs feature
outer walls made of glass, allowing people to observe research as it happens.
There are many areas where students can have individual and group study, and
some inner walls are actually large wipe boards where students can collaborate
in solving scientific problems. There are offices for biology and chemistry
faculty members, and College of Basic and Applied Sciences Dean Bud Fischer and
his staff.
For more on the background of the facility, visit http://www.mtsunews.com/sciencebuilding/.
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