Photo by: Bob Rashid

John E. Burris

As I write this letter, construction fences are going up and the vanguard of excavating equipment is moving into place on the west end of what was formerly Emerson Street. It is a harbinger of spring this year at Beloit.

After a decade of planning and discussion, and an intense period of design and infrastructure preparation, the time has come to start the final phase of the largest building project in Beloit College history: the Beloit College Center for the Sciences. An outstanding team of contractors—Klobucar Construction Co., based in Beloit, and J.H. Findorff & Son, Inc., of Madison—brings to the project extensive experience in environmentally conceived construction.

The new center, with its welcoming entrance facing the Rock River and the city of Beloit, reverses a 160-year trend of the campus turning inward. When Chamberlin Hall is deconstructed in 2008 (much of the structure will be recycled), the College and the city will be dramatically open to each other.

Soon a new picture of the environmentally sensitive Science Center will emerge, and a regularly evolving image of the construction process will be available to all on the Beloit College Web site. We invite you to follow along with the growth of this dynamic facility. Initially the pictures will change every few days. As the Science Center rises, the images will change daily, and by the end of summer next year, we will have a record of the 18-month project in stop-action photography.

The construction of the Science Center will allow Beloit College to catch up with its own superb reputation. For generations, Beloit’s pedagogical efforts have set standards in the nation at all levels for the teaching of science. Campus programs such as BioQUEST, ChemLinks, and the Keck Consortium in geology have helped to move faculty and students throughout the nation to new levels of effective scientific teaching. But on our campus, we have done this teaching without upgrading our facilities.

Yet we have maintained our reputation as a leader in science teaching. The results speak for themselves—such as the proportion of our graduates who continue on to receive a Ph.D. degree. In this area, Beloit ranks among the top 20 institutions in the United States out of 2,000 baccalaureate degree-granting institutions and 11th among national liberal arts colleges.

Our challenge today is to provide the right teaching space so that all of our students can be exposed to advanced levels of teaching and up-to-date equipment and research facilities. The science challenges that will face us in the coming years demand that all of our graduates are curious and scientifically literate.

The concept for the Center for the Sciences has been overseen by project coordinator and Kohnstamm Professor of Chemistry Brock Spencer and the faculty, working with administration and staff, members of the board, and a team of advisors. It has evolved from an original plan merely to renovate Chamberlin Hall, to a new, fully integrated, environmentally sound, 120,000 square-foot facility, housing the present Chamberlin occupants—biology, chemistry, physics, geology, biochemistry, and mathematics and computer sciences—plus psychology. The goal is to create a building that is part of the teaching process and one that is a Silver Level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified model of sound and sustainable construction.

This new facility will permit Beloit to set standards once again—this time not only for pedagogy, but also as home to a leading teaching and research facility that engages the whole community. In the summer, the facility will provide the Center for Language Studies with classroom space, and its atrium and conference rooms will attract educators and others from beyond campus.

Many generous individual donors have committed to the Science Center thus far. They have been joined by foundations and companies that include the Atwood, Marshall & Ilsley, and Mead Witter foundations, the Matilda Wilson Fund, and the Regal-Beloit Corporation. Grants of $500,000 from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation and another $500,000 from programs of the National Science Foundation will provide laboratory equipment and research and curriculum support.

As the building goes up, so must our expectations for the future and for the commitment of the Beloit family to this important venture. We hope that you will share in the dreams of the College. Your support will make a significant impact on the students and faculty, and our future. I would be happy to talk with you about our mission and our progress. Please call me at 608-363-2201 or email burrisj@beloit.edu.

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