More Than a Makeover
Park Science Center is renovated, expanded, and reimagined.
Work has begun on a major project to reimagine Park Science Center. The two-phase renovation includes a 10,000-square-foot addition and is designed to reinvigorate Park as a collaborative learning center with technology-rich classrooms and labs.
Phase I, budgeted at $21 million and slated to end in fall 2018, includes:
- A new modern physics lab with all-new equipment and small āroomettesā for controlled experiments
- A fully renovated electronics lab
- A two-story learning commons, including new technology for faculty/student collaboration
- An enhanced public space called The Science Crossroads that will feature state-of-the-art technology and video for science on display and also enhance circulation within the building
- Nine student study and seminar rooms equipped with technology, blackboards, and whiteboards
- Upgrades to seven classrooms and lecture halls
- A new computer science teaching laboratory
Have You Heard of These ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļ Trailblazers in Science?
Nettie Maria Stevens, Ph.D. 1903 (1861ā1912) discovered the XY chromosome system. A late-in-life scientist, she earned her Ph.D. at the age of 42.
Florence Bascom (1862ā1945) created ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļās geology department. American Men of Science voted her one of the top 100 geologists in 1906.
Emily Noether (1882ā1935) developed work that led to a body of principles unifying algebra, geometry, linear algebra, topology, and logic.
Hilda Geringer (1893ā1973) taught at ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļ in the early 1940s and is known for her pioneering work on the mathematical basis of Mendelian genetics.
Katharine Burr Blodgett, Class of 1917 (1898ā1979), was Cambridgeās first woman physics Ph.D. recipient and a G.E. researcher on monomolecular coatings for eyeglasses, lenses, aircraft deicing, etc.
Lilli Schwenk Hornig ā42 (1921ā2017), one of the only women scientists at Los Alamos, worked on plutonium chemistry and high-explosive lenses.
Katharine Blodgett Gebbie ā54 (1932ā2016) founded the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Physical Measurement Lab, where she mentored four Nobel physicists.
Candace Beebe Pert ā70 (1946ā2013), a neuroscientist and pharmacologist, discovered the opiate receptor that binds endorphins in the brain.
Who was Marion Edwards Park?
Park became ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļās third president after having served as dean at both Simmons College and Radcliffe College. During her presidency, she led efforts to enrich the Collegeās curriculum, particularly in the areas of the fine arts, history of architecture and arts, and archeology. She also initiated ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļās cooperative programs with Haverford, Swarthmore, and the University of Pennsylvania.
The Great Depression, rise of fascism, and beginning of World War II created many challenges, but Park provided steady, optimistic leadership throughout, notably joining with other U.S. institutions to employ refugee scholars from European universities.
A scholar in the fields of Classics and English, Park earned her A.B. (1898), M.A. (1899), and Ph.D. (1918) from ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļ. As a student, she received the Collegeās European Fellowship and used it to attend the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece.
Learn More About the Project
STEM at ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļ
- ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļ awards approximately three times the national average for degrees awarded to women in STEM.
- In 2013, ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļ became the first womenās institution to work with the Posse Foundation to recruit a STEM Posse.
- From 2013ā2015, 11 percent of ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļ students majored in math, 14.6 times the national average for women.
- Math and Biology are the top majors declared by current juniors and seniors.
- The natural sciences comprise 33 percent of all majors declared by current juniors and seniors.
- ±¬ĮĻ¹Ļ's postbaccalaureate premedical program is one of the nationās oldest with a consistent medical school acceptance rate of more than 98 percent.
Published on: 12/16/2017