Gabrielle Hendricks
A historic moment took place Oct. 15. The ribbon was cut to celebrate the completion of phase I of the new addition to the Coad Science Building, which houses the former School of Natural Science and Mathematics (SNSM). The 21,000-square-foot addition, renovation and expansion of the building has been a yearlong project, which was embarked upon in May 2023 under the presidency of President Emeritus, Timothy Trainor.
Phase I of this three-part expansion has led to two state-of-the-art neuroscience and computational teaching laboratories, dedicated neuroscience and microscopy research laboratories and collaborative spaces for community gathering. This expansion and the influx of students in technological fields has led to the name of the SNSM being changed to the School of Science, Mathematics and Technology (SMT).
The Coad has come a long way. It started off as 50,100 square feet in 1964, and did not include technological courses nor as many students as it does today. Over the past five years, SMT has had a 40% increase in students. Those students have made great accomplishments over the years. Many students in SMT have competed for and won competitive scholarships like the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and have secured competitive internships and graduate appointments at major research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Cal Tech and others. Regarding the competitive scholarships, Joyce shared “I think the caliber of this new expansion and program will increase the number of students competing for those scholarships.”
The Coad expansion and renovation project is being funded by donations, $4 million in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) workforce development funds, and a $2 million grant from the State of Maryland, in conjunction with donations made in support of the project through the Forward! Together as One Campaign.
A lead donation from George B. Delaplaine, Jr. will provide collaborative space, to be called the Delaplaine Family Academic Commons. Other top-level donors to the expansion project are the Page Family Foundation; Trish and D.J. Monagle, both C’84; Paula and Fred Neuer, M.D., C’67; and Christina Lee and Mark Sobus, J.D., Ph.D., C’89. Maryland politicians have also contributed to this funding, $4 million was secured by U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Representative David Trone.
Vice President of Advancement, Patricia Callahan (C’87) opened up the ribbon cutting ceremony. President Jerry Joyce then gave statements, thanking Trainor, faculty and donors that made the expansion possible. He called Trainor “the intellectual architect of this project.”
Representatives of donors, such as Trone’s field representative and Mount alumna, Annaston Cree (’21) and the director of NIST Laurie E. Locascio gave remarks about the innovation this expansion represents not only for college students in Maryland and Pennsylvania, but for the sciences across the U.S.
Trainor is thankful for donors like Trone and NIST. He remarked, “A big part [of the challenge] was finding the resources. We were very fortunate to partner and apply for a federal grant through Congressman Trone’s office and NIST. That along with generous funds from donors have enabled us to bring this [the project] to life.”
Student and Barry M. Goldwater scholar, Lincoln Queale (C’25) gave sentiments on how this renovation has impacted him and fellow SMT peers. He remarked how “students do not have to go all the way to the library if they want to study somewhere.” He also appreciated the increase of charging outlets in the classrooms.
Chemistry professor Dr. Patrick Lombardi is also excited about the amount of new space, saying “The students that we have do an amazing job with the resources that are available right now, but with having more space, better facilities and more implementation, I think they will make more advances in their fields.”
Data science major Malika Dosso (C’25) was excited about new features such as the white boards, stating that “They are huge, there are multiple screens, so now we are able to see better from different angles.”
Cyber major, Rachel Ku shared, “I’m excited to see more rooms for computer science, data science and technology majors because we only have one floor right now.”
A part of the expansion, the neuro microscopy room establishes the Mount as home to an advanced confocal microscopy facility that is the first in the University’s region. The Nikon Ti2E spinning disc confocal microscope with a live-cell imaging module and a Galvo photobleaching system was funded by a $626,218 National Science Foundation grant and will be accessible to Gettysburg College and Hood College. Joyce talked about the effect of the Nikon microscope saying, “In today’s higher education market, we can learn from each other, so this actually gives us a reason to come together, so I am excited about advancing those partnerships.”
As of Oct. 14, students have taken classes in the new classrooms and will continue to do so.
Gabrielle Hendricks