Von Liebig Center for Science, Five Years In
It seems like only yesterday we were driving equipment over here in a golf cart. So what have we learned in five years?
It is serving us well in ways we never imagined. I clearly remember scoffing at the idea of a coffee shop in the lobby. None of us science folks had asked for it, and the architects appeared equally amused by its presence, but they dutifully designed it in. What a bonus! Jitters has been one of the best parts of the new building, because it brings in students and faculty from around campus who might otherwise never set foot in a science building.
I have been in a lot of science buildings around the country, and this one is one of the "warmest." This may be related to the large amount of wood trim, but many buildings, trying to project the look of "modern science," end up with gleaming metal spaces, which look cool in some ways, but cold in others. Visiting faculty from other colleges have made the same observation-there is a warmth to von Liebig that serves us well.
Speaking of warmth, biologist Jill Keeney reports that thanks to the building's exceptional climate control, she no longer has colorful molds growing on her research samples!
One of the neatest things about the building is that almost everywhere you turn you will find a nook with a few lounge chairs and a white board. Student lounges are used almost every night as group study spaces. Many students do not leave the building until they are forced to leave by security at 1 a.m. They think of von Liebig as home, just as we had hoped.
One of the high hopes we had on constructing this building was that it would help foster collaborations among the faculty. One of the biggest catalysts in this regard is probably not the building itself but some of the money that came with it, funding the von Liebig Chair. Mike Boyle, who holds that chair, has been a strong driving force in pushing collaborative research. Jay Hosler and Lorraine Mulfinger collaborated on bee research; John Matter and Ruth Reed worked on lizards; and Richard Hark and Mike Boyle worked on triclosan together.
There is even collaboration between man and beast in the rat room. No, this is not where we put nasty students and faculty. It turns out that the College facilities in Brumbaugh to house rats for psychology experiments were not up to government standards, so we had to take a small slice of von Liebig's basement and build a room there. Professor David Widman now has a nice facility in which to run his experiments.
There is hardly a night when Neff Lecture Hall is not scheduled with a lecture, movie, or discussion of some sort, often to overflowing. And Sill Boardroom, despite taking up space the chemistry department wishes it had, has served beautifully as a meeting room for college and non-college groups alike. The same applies to the lobby, the "Wow" space of the building, which serves as a reception space for many events, including enrollment. I wish to personally thank the enrollment folks for free breakfast on Open House days.
Neff serves not only for public lectures but also for classes. After we started teaching there, we realized teachers occasionally need to point to the periodic table, usually prominently displayed on the wall of every chemistry classroom in the country. However, we discovered that we had left no wall space large enough to accommodate a periodic table! We made our own and pasted it behind the white board in the front of the room. We also forgot that teachers like to do demonstrations. In Neff we can't demonstrate because we had not made arrangements for a fume hood. We are hoping to obtain a movable, ductless fume hood for this purpose soon.
When we lecture in Neff, professors sometimes like to wander into the students' space, sort of like Phil Donahue. The front table in Neff, which doesn't have breaks for aisles, makes it difficult for the professor to wander around. However, as I wander the halls day in and day out, I'm amazed and frankly impressed at how well von Liebig turned out. Any shortcomings we might see can be addressed when we build the next one!