New Sciences Center Is Latest Addition
to Evolving Campus Skyline

More than 350 students, alumni, faculty and staff members, trustees, and friends of the university gathered together on Sept. 8, 2006, to celebrate the grand opening and building dedication of the John Brooks Williams Natural Sciences Center-North Building. This marks the fourth new building constructed as the university works to complete the Master Plan.

Catalyst for the Future: Grand Opening Celebration
Everyone was treated to special Amy's ice cream flavors like "buttered proton," "experi-mint" and "skyrocket chocolate," while performance artist Divine entertained the crowd as she transformed herself into a living vine that could be spotted "growing" on the building and nearby trees.

Speakers for the dedication included President George E. Martin, School of Natural Sciences Dean Charlie Bicak, Biochemistry major Rachel Walker, '07, and John Bauer, '62. Bauer, a longtime friend and executor of the John Brooks Williams estate, played an important part in funding the center by transferring gifts to the university totaling $12.5 million, making John Brooks Williams the largest donor in the university's history.

"It's incredible what this building has to offer," says Walker, who gave the invocation, as well as a personal speech, at the event. "It was a really wonderful opportunity and a blessing to represent this building and the piece of science that it is and what it offers to the university."

Preview of Discoveries to Come
After the building dedication, guests enjoyed self-guided tours of the building and watched upper-class science students demonstrate a variety of science experiments, including the:

• Chemistry of wine
• Detection of elements
• Regulation of genes by bacteria

Next Up: The South Building
The north building, which serves the Biology and Chemistry programs, is the first of two buildings that will eventually make up the 111,000-square-foot John Brooks Williams Natural Sciences Center. The south building will house space for the Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics programs.