 |
| · · · · · · · · · |
|
Pomona College Magazine is published three times a year by Pomona College
550 N. College Ave, Claremont, CA 91711
Online Editor: Mark Kendall
For editorial matters:
Editor: Mark Wood
Phone: (909) 621-8158
Fax: (909) 621-8203
PCM Editorial Guidelines
Contact Alumni Records for changes of address, class notes, or notice
of births or deaths.
Phone: (909) 621-8635
Fax: (909) 621-8535
Email: alumni@pomona.edu
|
|
| · · · · · · · · · |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Re)Dedicated
Voices
The dedication of the Seaver Biology Building was
also a rededication of Pomona to leadership in science education.
With more than a dozen members of the Seaver family in
attendance, the Richard C. Seaver
Biology Building was officially dedicated on February 26, 2005, as the
College offered its
thanks to the family whose name has become synonymous with fields as
diverse as science
and theatre on the Pomona campus. Here are some comments from the
participants in that
celebration.
Stewart Smith ’68
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
“It is, in fact, impossible to describe the emergence of Pomona College
over the last half
century as one of the nation’s preeminent colleges without
simultaneously referring to the
transformative contributions of Frank Seaver 1905, Richard Seaver ’43,
and the Seaver
Institute.”
David Oxtoby
President of Pomona College
“We celebrate today also a strong commitment from Pomona College for
environmental
sustainability in design, construction, and use. This building is the
first at Pomona, and
in Claremont, built to the LEED Green Building standards. In fact, it is
designed to meet
the still more ambitious goal of silver certification, placing it in the
top one percent
of all academic laboratory buildings in the country in terms of
energy-conscious design.”
 Thomas D. Pollard ’64
Higgins Professor of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology,
Yale University
“On behalf of two generations of Pomona graduates who studied in Seaver
Laboratories,
heartfelt thanks to the Seaver family and other donors for providing the
facilities not
only to learn about the natural world but also to catch the spark that
ignited our careers
in science and medicine. ...
“Biology has the potential to explain life in terms of chemistry and
physics. We will
understand the molecular basis of physiology in the near future. Some
matters such as
consciousness may have to wait a bit, but even that is not off limits.
These insights will
explain, for example, how the genetic differences that separate each of
us—differences of
about one part in 10,000 parts of DNA—account for our individual
predispositions to
disease. If individuals and society can deal with the ethical and
personal issues raised
by these insights, it will be possible to take more proactive approaches
to preventative
medicine, rather than simply reacting to disease as we
do now.
“Research in biology is limited only by resources. Increasing the
investment, as Pomona
has done with this magnificent building, will bring answers sooner,
rather than later.”
Lenny Seligman
Associate Professor of Biology and Chair of the Biology Department
“This is an incredible teaching facility. This might seem like an odd
choice of words for
a building comprised primarily of faculty research labs. However,
teaching—arguably the
most important teaching we do—is exactly what occurs in these research
labs.
“The best research projects at a place like Pomona are those that
intimately involve
undergraduates in experimental design, execution and interpretation. ...
“This building was designed with this idea of collaborative
student-faculty research in
mind.”
Michelle Keese ’05
Molecular Biology major
“We accept this generous gift from you with gratitude and the promise
that we will use it
to achieve great things.”
Richard C. Seaver ’43
Speaking for the Seaver Family
“At this time in history, biology is making such wonderful progress,
teaching us so many
things. I can think of no better commentary than that of one of my
grandchildren, sitting
here in the second row, Nathan Seaver Dean, who—paraphrasing a political
leader of a
generation ago—said, ‘Ask not what biology can do for you. Ask what you
can do for
biology.’”
|
|
|
|
