With improved classroom, laboratory and research spaces, the Harry R. Brooks Complex for Science, Mathematics and Technology represents a vision for the future of the liberal arts and sciences at Wilson College. Flooded with natural light and filled with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, the building offers spaces that enhance teaching and learning and the practice of science at the undergraduate level. The building has transformed the campus and is changing the lives of our students and faculty. We invite you to learn more about it on these pages or visit campus and take a tour. Envision the future of science at Wilson College and join us in this important educational mission.

Birth of the Building

In 2003, a strategic planning process identified the need for a new science complex at Wilson College. A "Vision for Science" was developed and shared with the Wilson College community. It earned major support with an initial gift from Dorothea Smith and then Marguerite Brooks Lenfest '55 and her husband, Gerry. In addition to their lead gift of $10 million to get the building started, the Lenfests have pledged an additional $10 million challenge grant to inspire others to help the College complete the funding of the building.

This initial support enabled Wilson to begin construction, and in October 2006, an official groundbreaking ceremony was held for the $25 million complex. Construction included the renovation of the 51,500-square-foot Paul Swain Havens Science Center, built in 1967, and the addition of a new two-story, 25,000-square-foot addition clad in native Pennsylvania limestone and mirroring the Victorian-era architecture of other campus buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.

After 18 months of construction, the facility opened for classes on Jan. 19, 2009. The structure was dedicated on May 15, 2009, and named the Harry R. Brooks Complex for Science, Mathematics and Technology in honor of the father of Wilson benefactor Marguerite Lenfest.

Among the building’s many highlights are cutting-edge teaching facilities, a magnificent two-story atrium, natural history museum and 28-foot water wall. It is expected to become the first structure in Franklin County to be certified through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.