Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan watches as Gov. Mike Easley uses a microscope during his tour of the Science Building.

GREENSBORO – The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, joined by Gov. Mike Easley and UNC President Molly Broad, dedicated Sunday its 172,000-square-foot Science Building, one of the most modern facilities in the state for science teaching and research.

Hundreds of people attended the afternoon ceremony to dedicate the $40 million building, UNCG’s first, largest and most expensive project to be paid for with the $3.1 billion N.C. Higher Education Bonds.

“First and foremost, today is a thank-you to the citizens of North Carolina. This building is a building built by our citizens, for our citizens,” Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan said. “They believe that it is through education that our society will be transformed into something better than we know today, something that will ennoble and enrich all of us.”

The Science Building is the home of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, which was relocated from the Petty Building. The Department of Biology gained additional office space and teaching labs, and the Department of Anthropology gained a new physical anthropology lab.

The building has the potential to help boost the Triad’s and the state’s science and technology industries, a critical sector of the economy as the region continues to lose manufacturing jobs. Faculty will perform cutting edge research, and students will learn to practice modern science.

 “I am convinced that something will be discovered in this building that will go on to create new jobs in our state,” Easley said.

Roughly 2,600 chemistry and biology students – both majors and non-majors – will take classes in the building each year. The additional classroom space helps prepare UNCG for its projected enrollment growth to 15,000 students and 2,000 distance learners by the end of the decade.

Two undergraduates – Amanda Pirt and Mark Crosswhite – addressed the audience during the dedication. “I feel a tremendous amount of support from the entire community, and that makes me want to be an even better student,” said Crosswhite, a junior majoring in chemistry.

Key instructional features of the building include one data connection for every two students at lab benches, lab equipment that stores data directly into computers, a nuclear magnetic resonance facility for analyzing compounds, and modern audio and visual equipment for teaching. In addition to classrooms, the facility has 25 teaching laboratories, a 300-seat auditorium, two lecture halls, six seminar rooms, support labs, prep rooms and storage space.

"This building is the culmination of more than 10 years of dreaming," Broad said. “Today's dedication heralds great things to come.”

(Posted 10-6-03)

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