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A New Era in Health Sciences Begins on Campus

Ribbon-cutting for the new center is 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 28

 

TACOMA, Wash. – Bill and Gail Weyerhaeuser will cut the ceremonial ribbon at the official Grand Opening and Dedication of The William T. and Gail T. Weyerhaeuser Center for Health Sciences on Friday, Oct. 28. The 5 –7 p.m. event for campus members and guests will include welcome remarks, an open house, tours, and health sciences presentations featuring the faculty and students of Weyerhaeuser Hall.

The $21 million center provides light-filled workspaces and high-technology resources for students and faculty members in five health and behavioral sciences, including occupational and physical therapy, exercise science, psychology, and neuroscience. The name Weyerhaeuser Hall recognizes the lifetime of commitment and leadership offered by Puget Sound trustee Bill Weyerhaeuser and his wife, Gail.

“Weyerhaeuser Hall provides our students and professors with a fresh, inspiring, and highly creative environment in which to continue their pursuit of rigorous academic study and groundbreaking research in the health and behavioral sciences,” President Ronald R. Thomas said when classes started in the new building this fall. “For our local community, it means clinical services enhanced by cutting-edge technology and welcoming spaces, and for other colleges like ours, it offers a model of leadership and innovation in the health sciences.”

Weyerhaeuser Hall is the centerpiece of Puget Sound's 20-year master plan and lies at the core of an academic strategic plan that advances the university’s mission as a leading national liberal arts college.

Designed by American Institute of Architects Gold Medal winner Peter Bohlin, of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the 42,500-square-foot building allows students and professors in the five health sciences to share laboratory and clinical spaces, encouraging collaboration across disciplines in research, learning, and practice. The public clinics serve about 300 referred patients a year in fields ranging from orthopedics to pediatrics.

This mix of academic, research, and clinical studies, combining graduate and undergraduate students, is believed to make the center unique for an American liberal arts college.

The four-story center, at the south end of campus across from Memorial Fieldhouse, has been designed to blend with the Tudor Gothic style of the buildings around it and to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. It was named one of the “Excellent 10” great economic development projects that took place in Pierce County during 2010 by the Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County.

Bill Weyerhaeuser, chair of the board of Columbia Bank, has served on the University of Puget Sound Board of Trustees through three presidencies and was chair of the board from 1993 to 2003. He was honored nationally by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges for his visionary leadership.

Gail Weyerhaeuser has dedicated herself to education and the community, working through her clinical practice and as a former member of the University of Washington Tacoma Advisory Board, former chair of the Charles Wright Academy board, and as a supporter of the College Success Foundation.

Individuals and foundations who generously contributed to the center include Carl and Renee Behnke, the Ben B. Cheney Foundation, Eric and Hollis ’84, J.D.’88 Dillon, the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation, Robert and Rebecca Pohlad P’77 and the Pohlad Family Foundation, and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.

Photos of Weyerhaeuser Hall (and the ribbon-cutting ceremony, from 7 p.m. Friday) can be downloaded from: www.pugetsound.edu/pressphotos

For more about Weyerhaeuser Hall visit: www.pugetsound.edu/chsFor a press kit on Weyerhaeuser Hall visit: For Journalists

Photos on page: Top right: Ribbon-cutting at Oct. 28 Grand Opening of Weyerhaeuser Hall, with President Ron Thomas and Gail and Bill Weyerhaeuser; Above left: Bill and Gail Weyerhaeuser; Above right: students on the Event Lawn; Above left: Groundbreaking for the center for health sciences in May 2010.

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