Interim Chancellor Morris Stocks speaks at the Ford Foundation ceremony on Friday, September 4. PHOTO BY: THOMAS BURCHETT
On Friday, Interim Chancellor Morris Stocks announced that the Ford Foundation will be expanding their initial $20 million gift to $25 million in support of the newly proposed science building.
This increase in funding totals the Ford Foundation’s support of the university to approximately $53.5 million.
Faculty, students and community members gathered at the steps of the Lyceum in honor of the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation board members and for the presentation of the gift.
University leaders, Stocks and Associate Provost Noel Wilken thanked and accredited this achievement to Ford Foundation board members: Anthony Papa, Cheryle Sims and John Lewis. The blueprints were also on display revealing both the science building and the Gertrude C. Ford Way, a walkway that will be used to connect the Grove to the new science building.
Ford Way is intended to serve as a commemoration to Gertrude Ford’s love of the arts and honor William Faulkner’s literary works. As a way to integrate both the arts and sciences, the walkway will create a walking corridor through the Science District, which is the area between University Avenue and All American Drive. Ford Way will begin at the edge of the Grove, continue through the new science building and reach a plaza between Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium and the Pavilion at Ole Miss Arena.
According to Stocks, the University has grown tremendously in the past years and is in desperate need of new educational and research opportunities to accommodate the growing interest in STEM, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“The University has been calling for more science teaching space for many years,” Stocks said. “We’ve grown by a third more STEM majors than we’ve ever had and we’ve been looking for ways to find additional teaching resources. This facility, which will be the largest facility on campus, will help us meet that need.”
According to Wilken, the 200,000 square-foot, $135 million addition to the Science District will transform how the school teaches science and will develop the next generation of STEM graduates.
Papa feels strong that this addition will have a positive impact on the future of the University.
“The science building was a great idea that began with Chancellor Dan Jones,” Papa said. “We were dedicated to his idea and are pleased to begin construction on the new science building, but it was his thought and all the praise and glory goes to Dan Jones.”
The announcement of the addition to the Science District was well received by the crowd. Senior international studies and pre-med major Lizzy Wicks is hopeful that the addition will attract more students to the University. “It’s going to be a great addition to the university. The fact that it is interdisciplinary is going to be a great way to attract more STEM majors. It’s important to support the sciences.”
Construction on Ford Way and the science building will begin in Spring 2016, and is expected to be completed by Fall 2018.
