At their Oct. 6-7 meeting, Stanford’s Board of Trustees visited the new Anderson Collection and reviewed several plans regarding construction on campus. President John Hennessy also gave his assessment of the prior academic year.
Visiting the Anderson Collection
According to Steven Denning, chair of the Board, the meeting centered around introducing the trustees to the Anderson Collection and allowing them to see the new space in person.
The visit included presentations from Alexander Nemerov, professor in the arts and humanities, and Jason Linetzky, director of the Collection, and the trustees also attended a celebratory dinner with the Andersons to thank the family for their gift to the University.
“It is something that I think we all feel is quite transformative in terms of its ultimate impact on the campus and the surrounding community,” Denning said.
“You’re really beginning to see the Arts District come to life,” he added.
Concept and site approved projects
Denning emphasized Land, Building & Real Estate’s new “Heads Up” Campaign, which encourages students to be aware of their surroundings. The safety initiative aims to prevent accidents with all of the current construction on campus. He explained that much of the construction is due to the Stanford Energy System Innovations project, which is also making good progress.
In addition to the ongoing construction, three projects received concept and site approval at the meeting: the Chemistry, Engineering & Medicine for Human Health (ChEM-H) and Neuroscience Institute Building, a new conference center for the Hoover Institution and the Photon Science Laboratory building.
The ChEM-H and Neuroscience Institute Building will support two institutes: Stanford ChEM-H, a joint institute under the schools of Medicine, Engineering and Humanities and Sciences and focuses on the chemistry behind human health, and the Neurosciences Institute.
“[The ChEM-H Institute and the Neurosciences Institute] are really reflective of what we see in major changes in the underlying science and then the need for something that’s pursued on a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary basis,” Denning said.
The building will be located on the site of the current Cogen Facility.
With the planned removal of the Cummings Art building, the Hoover Institution’s new conference center will be built around a 400-seat auditorium. The center will also feature open conference and office spaces.
According to Denning, the Photon Science Laboratory at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will be a three-story, 100,000-square-foot facility with state-of-the-art equipment for photon science. Although built by Stanford, the building will be outfitted by the Department of Energy.
“It really dovetails with everything that’s being done around SLAC and the new x-ray laser that’s resident over there,” Denning said. “It’s basically all designed around research to support the work that they’re doing on an interdisciplinary basis, both at Stanford and abroad with a number of institutions.”
All three buildings are scheduled for completion in 2017 with design approval early next year.
Facilities approved for construction
The board also approved three other facilities for construction: the Graduate School of Business (GSB) Graduate Residences, two new dorms at Lagunita and the Stadium Field House.
Adjacent to the Schwab Residential Center, the GSB Graduate Residences will add 200 beds and will allow unmarried first-year graduate students to live in a contiguous space with a collaborative environment, said Denning.
The two new dorms at Lagunita will continue the University’s efforts to provide more undergraduate housing, which began with the current construction of a new Manzanita residence.
The Stadium Field House will support Stanford Football and visiting teams and will replace existing facilities including showers, lockers and game evaluation technology.
Contact Kylie Jue at kyliej ‘at’ stanford.edu.