Science
Houghton College recently completed a $4.1 million
update to the Paine Science Center and formally dedicated the upgraded
facility on Saturday, October 8, 2011 during Homecoming. Construction
began on December 2, 2010 and was completed on August 29, 2011 in time
for the start of the fall semester. The dedication featured special
speakers, tours of the facility and a litany of dedication.
Why This Project Matters for Houghton as a College
Houghton College President Shirley A. Mullen ’76 highlighted Houghton’s longstanding culture of scientific research and collaborative inquiry and the impact that advanced technology and resources have on research merit and academic repute. “These facilities allow Houghton to be a place where students who feel called to be scientists may do science with a spirit of excellence and with love for God’s creation,” Mullen stated.
Why This Project Matters for the World
Associate Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Keith A. Horn ’75, spoke on why this project matters for the world. Horn addressed the most current and crucial global issues, including sustainability, clean water, poverty gaps, health, peace and conflict. “At Houghton College, we are compelled to bring healing and wholeness, both spiritually and physically, on our earth.”
Quick Facts
CONSTRUCTION
16,098 net square feet
$4.1 million with no debt incurred
11 labs, five classrooms, four offices, math student study
library, machine shop, faculty lounge and kitchenette
Woods: native black cherry & maple
Start date: December 2, 2010
Occupancy date: August 29, 2011
NATURAL SCIENCE AND MATH DIVISION
Majors offered: Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Math,
Computer Science, Physics, Applied Physics
230 majors
70 pre-medical students
19 faculty
More than 3,000 living natural science and math alumni
Why This Project Matters for Students
Doctor of Internal Medicine Mark Lindley ’79 emphasized that the people, not the building, are what make up the science and math divisions; thus, it is essential to build up students who can effectively use tools and resources in both scientific and nonscientific contexts. He conclusively stated: “This marriage of technology and scientific understanding with the broader liberal arts is a concept lived actively in this college and in many ways is the enduring purpose of this building. It is exciting to see it, both physically and in its vision, renewed and rededicated to the education of the next generation of students of Houghton College.”
Dr. Linda Mills Woolsey ’74, interim dean of the college, led a liturgy of dedication, and Robert V. Davidson ’65, Board of Trustee member, concluded with a dedicatory prayer. After the dedication ceremony, tours of the new facilities were given by current Houghton science and mathematics students.
Litany of Dedication
Gracious Lord, we thank you for the gift of intelligence and the call to wisdom. We thank you for your creation, whose mysterious and elusive laws we study. We thank you for matter and energy, for systems and cycles, for waves and particles. We thank you for living cell and complex organism, for the gift of life in all its forms. We thank you for order and for anomalies. We thank you for reason, method, and measurement. We thank you for the mathematics that help us to express our insights and to ponder patterns even in chaos. May we gladly learn and gladly teach as wise stewards of Your creation.
