Give to WSUBy Sylvia Lindman, WSU Vancouver staff writer
Thanks to the foresight of philanthropic donors, students in the life sciences at WSU Vancouver will have state-of-the-art learning facilities not only today but for years to come.
The 60,000-square-foot Life Sciences Building opens to students in August 2024. It houses laboratory space for programming in biology and chemistry, classrooms for all students, and foundational courses for an array of STEM degrees. The building also includes a 3,300-square-foot greenhouse and growing facility that will accommodate lab-based experiments, lectures, and independent research projects benefiting biology and environmental science education and research programs.
At the dedication in June, WSU System President Kirk Schulz told donors that their leadership “has allowed us to build the facility we need and not the facility that the state will fund.” Indeed, state funding fell almost $7 million short of the $63.8 million project cost. While supplemental state funds and reserve funds from WSU Vancouver helped fill the gap, donors were vital in making sure the building could be completed as planned.
“Completing the Life Sciences Building required a partnership between our state legislators and private philanthropy,” Schulz said. “It’s important to build the buildings we need, not just now, but well into the future. That’s where philanthropy comes in.”
Many rooms in the building are named for the donors who helped fund them. Several significant artworks were contributed. The Cowlitz Tribal Foundation supported the overall construction with a $1 million gift. “The Cowlitz Indian Tribe invests in education because we understand the value that it brings to individuals and the community,” said Timi Marie Russin, Cowlitz Tribal Foundation manager.
With its collective emphasis on art, culture, environmental justice, and education, the Life Sciences Building and greenhouse fit neatly within the mission of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the philanthropic goals of the Cowlitz Tribal Foundation.
One generous donor, preferring to remain anonymous, asked the development team to work with nursing faculty on names of individuals who could inspire students, faculty, and friends. The result is the naming of the anonymously funded lecture classroom for the nursing program after Mary Mahoney, who was born in 1845 and was the first professionally trained Black nurse in the United States. Mahoney, who lived and practiced in New England, was a prominent advocate for equality in nursing education and a passionate supporter of women’s suffrage.
Across the hall, another classroom is dedicated to women in STEM. Donors Mike Worthy and Kim Rocha had noticed that they had seen mostly male names on building spaces. They felt that seeing more female names would be a sign to women students that they could handle the rigors of these disciplines. Their gift is intended to inspire and celebrate the contributions that women bring to research and their impact on STEM fields. Wall panels highlight the first female faculty who will conduct research in the new building.
At a WSU Foundation fall meeting during the building’s design phase, Geri Carlson, WSU Pullman ’77, heard WSU Vancouver Chancellor Mel Netzhammer discuss the Life Sciences Building project and inflation in construction costs. He said the building would have to shrink unless donors would help ensure the university could build the facility that was needed. She talked with her husband, Chris, and they decided to invest in one of three instructional labs. The science lab includes her maiden name, McLean, to honor her time at WSU, before she and Chris were married. The room is named the Geraldine McLean Carlson Laboratory.
Judy Rogers, an alumna and volunteer with WSU Vancouver and former roommate of Geri Carlson, selected a research lab to bear her name to help show support for women students and researchers. Along with Carlson’s, Worthy’s, and Rocha’s support, “These gifts send a message to students about women’s impact in the STEM disciplines,” Schulz said.
The third research lab is named for Kirk and Noel Schulz. “To have the president and first lady name a research lab makes a statement,” said Mike Connell, vice president for advancement and CEO of the WSU Foundation.
Donors’ gifts also made it possible to fulfill a request from WSU Vancouver students. They had said they wanted a facility where they were surrounded by art, color, and sciences—and they got it.
In the second-floor hallways, six large paintings based on human and animal X-rays were donated by Jo Hockenhull. She was a longtime faculty member at WSU in Pullman before transferring to WSU Vancouver, where she was the first female administrator for academic affairs. An even larger painting of Hockenhull’s, “The Inheritors,” graces the first-floor student study area, showing a double helix and a gigantic ant—a species known for its long-term survival rate.
The Palmer Foundation, working with nursing graduate Debe Palmer, donated Seymour Lipton’s sculpture “Pointed Mask” for the nursing suite, in memory of Palmer’s husband, David R. Palmer. “Nurses need to look beyond obvious symptoms to treat the whole patient,” Palmer said. “The works of Seymour Lipton are similar.” Debe Palmer, who served on the WSU Vancouver advisory board for 20 years, earned her master’s degree in nursing at WSU Vancouver, fulfilling a lifelong dream of earning the degree before she turned 50.
The Life Sciences Building stands as a testament to the power of partnerships. At the June dedication, Schulz told donors, “Your support has been nothing short of transformative.” The building is “more than just the brick and wood we see but is about the innovation, the hope, and future achievements of our students and faculty. It symbolizes the unwavering commitment you have made to the success and advancement of our university and its community.”
Philanthropic support for the Life Sciences Building has generously been provided by the following:
- Anonymous Donor (2)
- Melissa and Jeff Bassett
- Angela Brittain
- Geraldine and Christopher Carlson
- Allison Coffin
- Dick Colf and Colf Family Foundation
- Cowlitz Indian Tribe
- Jennifer Creighton
- Narek and Aleigha Daniyelyan
- Alexander Dimitrov
- Linda Eddy
- Cheryl Schultz and Leonard Eisner
- Mel Netzhammer and Lee Faver
- Dawn Freeman
- Dan and Kathy Harmon
- Renee Hoeksel
- Jo and Jim Hockenhull
- Susan Kane
- Al and Lisa Keohokalole Schauer
- Lisa and Jim King
- Legacy Research Institute
- M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust
- Jennifer Miltenberger
- Anthony and Connie Nguyen-Trong
- Kelsey Pascoe
- Jonah Piovia-Scott
- Molly Philopant
- Christine Portfors
- Judy Rogers
- Seth Rudman
- Kirk and Noel Schulz
- Darci Spuck and Chris Sylves
- Michael C. Worthy
If you would like to make a gift to the WSU Vancouver Sciences Building Development Fund, please visit us online or contact Jacob Hirning at jacob.hirning@wsu.edu or 360-546-9600.
