After nearly 10 years of planning and 19 months of construction, the new Linfield University Science Complex, featuring the brand-new W.M. Keck Science Center, is officially open. The 84,400-square-foot complex gives Linfield students the chance to do high levels of undergraduate research, whether that’s mutations to mitochondrial DNA or fermentation in the Evenstad Wine Laboratory. Research space has increased 232%, from 2,318 square feet to 5,385 square feet.
(Read more about the complex’s features and capacities.)
Despite temperatures in the 20s, hundreds of people — students, faculty, McMinnville dignitaries and more — turned out to celebrate the grand opening, which included speeches from President Miles K. Davis, biochemistry and molecular biology major and French minor Natalie Wise ’24, a blessing from Chaplain Jeremy Richards and comments from Kerry Carmody, chair of the Spark Wonder Campaign and chair of the Linfield University Board of Trustees.
President Davis kicked off the ribbon-cutting speeches with a nod to Linfield tradition: “It’s a great day to be a Wildcat,” he said, smiling. “Every day is a great day to be a Wildcat!”, the crowd yelled back.
A moving moment came when Wise spoke about what the center will mean not only to her and her peers, but the students that will come after.
“The laboratories, lecture halls and study nooks become your second home, where you spend hours upon hours stretching your brain beyond what you thought was its limit,” she said. “It’s ultimately where you become a scientist.”
She chose to attend Linfield, she said, because of the opportunity for undergraduate research it offers, and said she’s excited with the way the science complex expands those possibilities.
“This building provides the resources for Linfield to improve upon what it’s already doing: sparking a passion for science and creating an environment in which people can develop that passion,” she said, adding that she slightly envies first-year students for the years they will have in the building.
Nobel-winning physicist Bill Phillips, who was on campus for two days as part of the concurrently held Oregon Nobel Laureate Symposium, said the ability to do undergraduate research was key to his future work.
“I participated in research as an undergrad and I heartily agree in trying to get as many students as possible involved in research. It meant a lot to me and really set me on the path for my career,” he said, adding that Linfield reminded him of his years at the 1,600-student Juniata College in Huntington, Pennsylvania.
“I came from a small liberal arts college environment, so the atmosphere here is very familiar to me,” he said. “The kind of interactions that students have with professors in that environment is something I treasured in my undergraduate years, and something I see happening here as well.”
He also complimented Linfield’s focus on the liberal arts.
“I agree with what President Davis said — one should have a broader outlook on education beyond one’s major,” he said, noting that in addition to biochemistry and molecular biology, Wise is studying French.
“My own studies of French as an undergrad helped in forming collaborations with French colleagues; my learning about English composition was really important for my scientific writing,” he said.
As visitors wandered the building, students, faculty and staff were on-hand to show off the new facilities. Senior Laboratory Coordinator Veronica Siller ’10 stood proudly in her gleaming new chemical storage facility. She began working at Linfield, she said, when the project was in its infancy.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for so long,” she said. “I’ve been here through all the planning and development stages. I’ve watched it happening and to finally see the culmination of it all? It’s really exciting.”
Before blessing the building, Linfield Chaplain Jeremy Richards said that although the building is beautiful and full of cutting-edge technology, its true worth lies in the intangible.
“Who can say what discoveries will occur in this space? Who knows the learning that will take place? Who can predict the relationships that will form, the lives that will be changed through the study that takes place here? While many things will be quantified in this building, the impact this building will have will be unquantifiable,” he said. “This building … is only the container for the real magic that will happen here.”
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