Tom Malloy, trustee, Mario Prietto, S.J., rector of the USF Jesuit community and trustee, Steven Read, chairman of the Campaign for Science and Innovation and trustee, USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J., USF Chancellor John Lo Schiavo, S.J., Lou Giraudo, chair emeritus of the USF Board of Trustees, Bernie Orsi, Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation board member, and Jennifer Turpin, USF provost and vice president for academic affairs (from left to right).
The University of San
Francisco
broke ground on its much-anticipated Center for Science and Innovation (CSI)
Dec. 10.
The 60,000-square-foot building – designed by award-winning
architecture firm NBBJ – will remake the university’s presence on the main
campus and expand the ability of faculty to teach advanced science.
The groundbreaking took place on the lawn south of the
Harney Science Center, with excavation of the site scheduled to begin in May
2011. Occupancy of the new center, to be called the John Lo Schiavo, S.J.
Center for Science and Innovation, after USF’s chancellor and former president,
is expected in 2014.
With more than $40 million raised for CSI, Stephen A.
Privett, S.J., USF president, and Claudio Chiuchiarelli, chair of the board of
trustees, thanked and congratulated major donors to the project, which is set
to achieve an LEED gold rating for environmentally conscious design.
“This project will position USF as a destination for
undergraduate education and further strengthen our connection to the health,
environmental, and digital sciences,” said Fr. Privett. “As the world
increasingly looks to science to meet the challenges of such issues as global
warming, it’s our responsibility to educate a new generation of ethical science
leaders to ensure science serves real human needs.”
Jennifer Turpin, USF provost and vice president for academic
affairs, called the CSI project “transformative,” not just for the sciences but
for the whole university.
CSI will include 17 state-of-the-art laboratories and
digital classrooms, lounges and study space, and a below-grade plaza. The
project also encompasses upgrades and modernization of classrooms and
laboratories in the Harney Science Center, which hasn’t been substantively
improved since it was built in 1965.
