GROUNDBREAKING
Skidmore College to build new science center
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Skidmore College has broken ground on a new Center for Integrated Sciences, the single largest academic initiative in school history.
The 200,000-squarefoot building will put 10 science departments and programs under one roof to foster dialogue between and among scientific disciplines, the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The facility will house 46 research labs, as well as the IdeaLab, a creative space for students and faculty.
The groundbreaking ceremony was part of Skidmore’s recent Celebration Weekend open house for students’ families and included a keynote address by renowned paleontologist and author Neil Shubin.
“We live in an age in which people speak of alternative facts, junk news and fake news,” he said. “Science has taught us a powerful concern for evidence … humility in the face of the unknown.”
The Center for Integrated Sciences is the focal point of a $200 million fundraising effort called, “Creating Our Future: The Campaign for Skidmore.” Plans call for raising such money by 2020. In addition
to the large capital project, funds also will be used for scholarships and financial aid, the Skidmore Fund, the Tang Teaching Museum, athletics, and career development and transformative experiences for Skidmore students.
Skidmore President Philip Glotzbach said, “In building the Center for Integrated Sciences, we are constructing a place for 21st-century teaching and learning. Science is and always has been an integral component to liberal education.”
The number of science majors at Skidmore has doubled in the last decade and Skidmore scientists are engaging in major collaborative research initiatives with students and other institutions. Skidmore faculty have secured major recent grants for their research from institutions that include the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, James S. McDonnell Foundation, GRAMMY Museum Foundation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control/ National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Shubin is the Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Service Professor and associate dean of biological sciences at the University of Chicago. During ceremonies, he discussed the importance of interdisciplinary connections and the value of scientific literacy, even for nonscience majors.
“The breakthroughs that matter in today’s science are coming from people who think beyond disciplinary boundaries, who explore answers to scientific puzzles that span all lines of human inquiry,” Shubin said. “Today’s science needs integrative thinkers whose background spans the humanities, social sciences as well as traditional STEM fields.”
Celebration Weekend activities also included art exhibitions, concerts, athletic events, fireworks and dedication of the new Valentine Boathouse on Fish Creek, for Skidmore’s crew teams.
The three-building complex is named for college Trustee Peg Valentine and Mike Valentine, whose daughter, Martha, graduated from Skidmore in 2009. Previously there was only one building, which has been completely renovated and houses larger boats.
The new center building, known as the “Team Building,” has a meeting and workout space with ergometers, a locker room and office space for coaches. The other new building is a sculling pavilion that houses single and double boats.
Skidmore Crew Head Coach Jim Tucci said the interior of the new Team Building is reminiscent of a boathouse found on historic Boathouse Row in Philadelphia. “It has a wonderful sophistication, as well as the functional aspects that will allow us the potential for optimal performance,” he said. “The new boathouse will be an inspiring venue to row from.”