Boston College has taken a major step forward into the sciences with the opening of a $150 million academic and research building.
The official opening of the home of the new Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society Thursday comes as part of a broader push by BC, which hasn’t typically been known for its sciences programs, to move into those fields. In all, that sciences initiative is a $300 million investment, according to the college.
Other parts of the sciences movement include the creation of the Schiller Institute itself, the launch and staffing of a new Department of Engineering, which enrolled its first class last fall, and the hiring of 22 principal investigators who will conduct health, energy, and environment-related research in the new facility, BC said.
The 150,000-square-foot facility, known as its address, 245 Beacon St., houses not only the Schiller Institute but also a clean-room nanotechnology research lab, BC’s computer science department, human-centered engineering department and the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship. Among those departments, the building includes classrooms, labs, faculty offices and maker spaces.
The Schiller Institute supports faculty from across disciplines to work to solve problems in health, energy and the environment, BC said. It is named in honor of BC trustee Phil Schiller, a 1982 graduate, and his wife, Kim Gassett-Schiller, who together made a gift of $25 million.
The Boston architectural firm Payette designed the building, and Boston-based Suffolk Construction built it.
The new sciences building is the second of two initiatives announced this month by BC.
The other is the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, named for the Brookline college with which BC merged in 2020. The $100 million Pine Manor program includes a new associate degree program and an enrichment program for students in grades 8-12.
The middle- and high school program will include summer courses taught on the BC campus as well as academic support during the school year that includes public speaking, the college application process and standardized test prep.
The new two-year program will prepare students for continued studies for a bachelor’s degree or for professional careers. It will be based at Pine Manor, with successful students having an ability to transfer to BC for their bachelor’s degree. It is named Messina College after the first Jesuit school, the Catholic denomination with which BC is affiliated.
Total FTE student enrollment for Fall 2020
| Rank | Prior Rank | School/Prior rank (*unranked in 2020)/ |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
2 | 2 | Boston University |
3 | 3 | Northeastern University |
