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The celebration of the official opening of the state-of-the-art science complex continued Saturday with a community open house and panel discussion featuring prominent Wilson graduates in the field of science.
Lenfest, a 1955 Wilson College graduate, and husband H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest contributed the lead gift of $10 million for the science complex in February 2007. The couple also has pledged a $10 million matching challenge grant to complete the funding for the project.
The Lenfests and other top donors were honored at a black-tie celebration attended by members of the Wilson College Board of Trustees, administrators, employees and invited guests. Officials unveiled a plaque recognizing all donors to the science complex project to date. In addition, members of the science complex steering committee were honored.
Board of Trustees Chair Trudi Blair read a resolution recognizing the Lenfests, of Huntington Valley, Pa., for their longstanding generosity to the college. In addition to the $20 million for the science complex, the Lenfests have given more than $17 million to Wilson in recent years. Their gifts made it possible to establish Lenfest Commons, a student gathering and study center, and to provide endow
ments for scholarship support and child care for Wilson’s award-winning Women with Children program.
Marguerite Lenfest, who served as a member of the Wilson board of trustees from 1993 to 2002, said she wanted the science complex to be named after her father because without him, she wouldn’t have received a Wilson College education.
“My father was instrumental in my going to Wilson,” said Lenfest, who was awarded an honorary degree from Wilson in 2004. “I think I was less than a year old when he decided Wilson College was for me.”
Lenfest doesn’t know how or why her father chose Wilson, but she is glad he did. She said she’s a believer in women’s colleges and the important role they still play in education today.
“I believe there should be choices,” said Lenfest. “For women who prefer learning independence and finding their own strengths, I think an all-female environment is very important.”
The Lenfests decided to contribute to the science complex for several reasons, according to Marguerite Lenfest, who said one reason is that more than half of all Wilson students enroll in science-based majors and virtually all take science and mathematics courses as part of their general education requirements.
“Science also is a field in which the U.S. is not keeping up with the rest of the world, so I felt there was a need,” she said.
At the gala celebration, the college’s alumnae association also presented Lenfest with the Distinguished Alumna Award for her longstanding support.
“Marguerite Brooks Lenfest and Gerry Lenfest’s informed and inspired vision, financial acumen and magnificent gifts to unrestricted endowment continue to play a leadership role in transforming Wilson,” said Wilson College President Lorna Duphiney Edmundson. “When we presented our vision for science to them, they not only gave the lead gift of $10 million, but added another $10 million challenge grant to encourage other donors. We are deeply grateful.”
The 76,500-square-foot science complex got under way in August 2007 with site preparation and demolition work in the 39-year-old Paul Swain Havens Science Center. The project involved the complete renovation of the 51,500-square-foot Havens building and the construction of a 25,000-square-foot, two-story addition that wraps around a reconfigured and improved auditorium and provides state-of-the-art laboratory suites, a natural history museum showcasing the college’s collection of artifacts and scientific collections, two-story atrium and greenhouse.
The complex opened for classes on Jan. 19, but work continued in the building through early May.
So far, more than $16 million has been raised for the $25 million complex, which will become the first building in Franklin County certified through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program designating construction as energy efficient and earth friendly.
On Saturday, guided tours of the facility were followed by a panel discussion, “For the Love of Science,” featuring three Wilson alumnae who have distinguished themselves in science.
The panelists, Dr. Jeanne Crawford Beck, former Wilson Board of Trustees chair and 1965 graduate; Dr. Tracy Leskey, Class of 1990, and Jennifer (Robinson) Detrisac, Class of 2005, discussed how attending Wilson College affected their post-college careers in science-related fields. Beck, who cultivates grapes for a number of Oregon wineries, formerly directed the world’s largest cell repository at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research. Leskey is a noted research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va. Detrisac is a medical student at Drexel University.
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a liberal arts college dedicated to the education of women. Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and located in Chambersburg, Pa. Wilson offers bachelor’s degrees in 28 areas and a master’s degree in education. The college’s 2008-09 enrollment in both the College for Women and the Adult Degree Programs is 710 and includes students from 20 states and 13 foreign countries. Wilson is committed to environmental sustainability and to preparing leaders who will serve their communities and professions effectively.
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The Harry R. Brooks Complex for Science, Mathematics and Technology:
