Contact: Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
October 11, 1999
[email protected]
IMMEDIATE
Dedication of New Academic Building to be Highlight of
Middlebury College's Bicentennial "Celebration of the Sciences"
Harvard Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould Is One of Keynote Speakers
MIDDLEBURY, Vt.-On Oct. 14-16, Middlebury College will hold the Bicentennial "Celebration of the Sciences," an event that will kick off a year-long series of activities honoring the College's 200th birthday. The celebration will feature the dedication of Bicentennial Hall, a new 220,000-square-foot academic facility that will serve as the home of six natural and social science departments, and the most ambitious building project in Middlebury's history. The event will also include a symposium with nationally renowned scientists and science journalists, as well as tours of the new structure. All activities are free and open to the public.
Located on the western side of campus just north of College Street, Bicentennial Hall will house classrooms, laboratories, a library, and offices for six academic departments-biology, chemistry and biochemistry, geography, geology, physics, and psychology. After more than five years of planning, Middlebury broke ground in 1997 for construction of the building, which cost $47 million dollars. On Sept. 13, the first day of classes, approximately 40 percent of Middlebury's students began entering its doors on a weekly basis. Bicentennial Hall's environmentally sensitive features are meant to be a fitting tribute to the study of the natural environment and related subjects that will take place there.
"We are excited about the results of our efforts to be environmentally aware as we planned and built the structure. For example, Bicentennial Hall is the largest academic facility in the country to contain exclusively 'green certified' wood in its millwork-wood that has been harvested and processed through ecologically sensitive means," said Randy Landgren, director of academic facilities planning.
Bob Schaeffner of Payette Associates was the partner and project architect overseeing the building. "In our practice over the past 20 years, we have designed 85 graduate and undergraduate science projects for numerous renowned institutions, but Middlebury's vision for Bicentennial Hall was unparalleled," said Schaeffner.
"The forward looking structure pushes the envelope of sustainable design, energy-efficient systems, and a 100-year-plus life span beyond any facility of its kind while still falling within the fiscal guidelines of the College. This building represents a healthy balance between sustainable technologies, costs, and benefits," added Schaeffner.
On Oct. 14 at 4:15 p.m., the seventh annual Clifford Symposium, which is titled "What is Life?," will begin in the Concert Hall in the Center for the Arts (CFA) on Route 30. The event will start with a lecture by the first of two keynote speakers-medical ethicist James F. Childress, the Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Religious Studies and professor of medical education of the University of Virginia. Childress will discuss "Scientific Promise, Ethical Controversy: Resolving Religious and Moral Conflicts about Scientific Research."
At 7:45 p.m., paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology of Harvard University, will give a talk titled "Wonderful Life in a Full House," which will also take place in the Concert Hall. Following the lecture, Gould will sign copies of his books "Questioning the Millenium" and "Rocks of Ages" in the upper lobby of the CFA.
On Oct. 15 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., tours of Bicentennial Hall will be available. At 12:30 p.m., John Noble Wilford, science correspondent for The New York Times, will head a panel of experts: Paula Apsell, the executive producer of the PBS show "NOVA;" John Rennie, editor in chief of Scientific American; and Boyce Rensburger, the director of Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at MIT. The discussion will take place in Bicentennial Hall's Great Hall. Bicentennial Hall is located on Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125).
A second panel at 3 p.m. will conclude the day's celebration with a review of the issues discussed by panelists and lecturers earlier in the day. Moderated by Maggie O'Brien, president of St. Mary's College of Maryland, the panel will include members of the Middlebury College sciences and humanities faculty and will take place in the Lecture Hall of Bicentennial Hall.
On Oct. 16 at 10:30 a.m., a convocation and the dedication of Bicentennial Hall will take place in that building's Great Hall.
To follow is a list of events for the Bicentennial "Celebration of the Sciences:"
THURSDAY, OCT. 14
CLIFFORD SYMPOSIUM: WHAT IS LIFE?
4:15 p.m. Lecture: "Scientific Promise, Ethical Controversy: Resolving Religious and Moral Conflicts about Scientific Research"
James F. Childress, Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Religious Studies and Professor
of Medical Education, University of Virginia
Concert Hall, Center for the Arts, So. Main Street (Route 30)
7:45 p.m. Lecture: "Wonderful Life in a Full House"
Stephen Jay Gould, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Harvard University
Concert Hall, Center for the Arts, So. Main Street (Route 30)
Book Signing
Stephen Jay Gould, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Harvard University, will sign copies of his books "Questioning the Millenium" and "Rocks of Ages."
Upper Lobby, Center for the Arts, So. Main Street (Route 30)
FRIDAY, OCT. 15
9 - noon Tours
Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)
12:30 p.m. Science Media Panel
Moderated by John Noble Wilford, science correspondent, The New York Times
Panelists:
Paula Apsell, executive producer, "NOVA"
John Rennie, editor in chief, Scientific American
Boyce Rensberger, director of Knight Science Journalism Fellowships, MIT
Great Hall, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)
3 p.m. Symposium Discussion
Moderated by Maggie O'Brien, president, St. Mary's College of Maryland
Panelists:
Middlebury College faculty from the sciences and humanities
Lecture Hall, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)
SATURDAY, OCT. 16
DEDICATION CEREMONIES
10:30 a.m. Dedication
Great Hall, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)
All events are free and open to the public.
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