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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 9/27/07 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
August 26, 2004 New system president dedicates renewed building Kevin Reilly will start dealing with budget, other issues next week By Ray Barrington Kevin Reilly, who starts as system president Sept. 1, joked that he
wasn't sure if his dedication of the remodeled Laboratory Sciences building
would "take" because of his status. "And we'll all be required to come
back and do this again next week," he added.
A lot of other people with ties to the building had already come back,
including the school's founding chancellor, Edward Weidner, and former
chancellor Mark Perkins, under whose tenure the remodeling project was
approved.
But the theme of the day was "new," with a new addition, new space and
the new system president, who also spoke at a faculty-staff convocation
later in the day that welcomed new faculty members.
Reilly is no stranger to the system, having served eight years in the
UW Extension system, the last four as chancellor.
"You have such a wonderful reputation on this campus for sciences in
general and interdisciplinary sciences, this building will only lift that
reputation," he said. Next week, Reilly starts with the major issues facing
a system head, notably the state's budget.
"Will the state reinvest in the university after the largest budget
cut in its history?" he asked. "We know the more baccalaureates the state
has in its population, the higher the per-capita income, so if we can
work with the state to get more people to understand that, the more people
Green Bay can produce with degrees, the higher the state average income
will be and the lower our taxes can be and the brighter our future will
be."
As for the building, Reilly called it a "day of hope."
"The best sort of hope, in a way, because it's not for ourselves but
for future generations," he said. "Even in tough times, we have to invest
in higher education, the future, and people." Chancellor Bruce Shepard
cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the remodeled building, saying its
renewal, appropriately, was "almost phoenix-like."
"These flagship programs are stronger than ever," he said.
The building opened in September 1969 as one of the first three buildings
on campus, along with the Environmental Sciences and Instructional Services
building. A greenhouse was added in 1983, but talk of a larger expansion
began in 1985.
Still, it wasn't until 1998 that the UW Board of Regents authorized
planning for an expanded building, with funding for the $15 million project
approved in 2000.
Construction began in 2002, none too soon for human biology professor
Angela Bauer Dantoine, who estimated her classes had to walk two miles
in a day to go from inadequate labs to storage in other buildings.
"While this allowed me to make great progress to reach the goals laid
out in Gov. (Jim) Doyle's fitness challenge, it was not an efficient use
of my time at work," she said.
"Our new facilities are everything we've dreamed of, and more," she
said.
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