Yale University held a dedication ceremony today for the Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center, an interdisciplinary facility that is part of Yale’s $500 million investment to maintain its research and teaching leadership in science and engineering.
The Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center will play a central part in Yale’s efforts to illuminate understanding of the natural world and how it can best be sustained through sound management and wise public policy.
“The Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center will bring faculty and students from different departments and schools together to foster discovery and learning that will add to our knowledge and appreciation of the biosphere,” said President Richard C. Levin. “It is the first milestone in our ambitious plan to ensure that Yale’s fourth century brings continued advancement in science and engineering.”
The Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center is adjacent to the Peabody Museum at 21 Sachem Street and is designed to encourage collaboration among faculty and students pursuing environmental studies, while placing the comprehensive collections of the Peabody Museum at their fingertips. In addition to housing curators, staff and collections of the Peabody Museum, the Center provides laboratories, classrooms, offices and curatorial spaces. It will be the home of the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and will accommodate faculty and students from the Faculty of Arts Sciences’ Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Geology and Geophysics, and Anthropology, and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Facilities for storage and curatorship of Peabody Museum collections account for about half the space within the building, and hallways connecting the Center and the Museum on each level will facilitate communication and academic interaction among all those studying the environmental sciences at Yale.
The building is named for the Yale College Class of 1954, which gave the University $70 million in 2000 to support new science buildings and other major University priorities. The Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center was supported with $25 million from the Class of 1954 gift.
“The generous gift of the Yale Class of ‘54 has made it possible to build this unique building that will house a remarkable interdisciplinary array of faculty and students in the environmental sciences at Yale,” said Yale Provost Alison F. Richard. “In the years to come, the collaborative work that emerges from this space will surely result in great additions to the scientific landscape.”
The Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center is the first of five new buildings to support the sciences at Yale. In addition, as part of Yale’s $500 million investment, new buildings for chemistry, engineering, Forestry and Environmental Studies, and the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology will be constructed.
During the dedication ceremony, Yale recognized the efforts of alumnus and Yale Corporation member Edward P. Bass ‘68 B.S., ‘72 ARCH, who helped establish and shape the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and is co-chair of the Leadership Council at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
The Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center was designed by David M. Schwarz Architectural Services, Inc. of Washington, D.C.
