The content of this site was generated automatically using Claude Code and Mnemotron-R, based on OCR data from Spectator (1947–2025) and other college archival materials hosted at the Internet Archive. It it intended as a proof of concept for the Mnemotron-R project, and has not been reviewed for completeness or accuracy by a human reviewer.
Contact Hamilton College Archives for authoratiative access to College history.
Taylor Science Center
Overview
The Taylor Science Center (referred to throughout construction simply as “the new Science Center”) is Hamilton College’s principal facility for the natural sciences, dedicated in fall 2005 at a cost of approximately $56 million. The building represented the largest single construction project in Hamilton’s history to that point and was central to the college’s strategic repositioning of its science programs. It replaced aging science facilities and was designed to maximize undergraduate research through shared laboratory spaces and a signature atrium.
Key Facts
Type: Academic building Cost: ~$56 million Dedicated: September 30, 2005 (Fallcoming Weekend) Location: Hamilton College campus, Clinton, N.Y.
Relevance to Research
Planning for the Science Center began in earnest in the early 2000s under President Joan Hinde Stewart. The building was referenced in Spectator planning coverage as early as spring 2004 and was originally scheduled to open for the 2005–06 academic year, though flooring installation delays pushed the certificate of occupancy into fall 2005. (Spectator, September 2, 2005; Spectator, September 9, 2005)
The dedication ceremony was held on September 30, 2005 during Fallcoming Weekend and featured as keynote speaker Congressman Sherwood L. Boehlert of New Hartford, N.Y., chairman of the House Committee on Science. Honorary Hamilton degrees were awarded to Jacqueline K. Barton, Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Chemistry at Caltech, and Ivan King ‘47, Research Professor of Astronomy at the University of Washington. The Spectator reported that “science alumni were very impressed with how much education has changed, particularly in how much hands-on research students were doing with the faculty” (Professor of Chemistry George Shields). (Spectator, October 7, 2005)
The building was part of Hamilton’s four-year, $16 million capital campaign and also drew on longer-range fundraising. It houses a large atrium used as a social and event space and an auditorium. The Science Center Opening also included talks and lectures by Hamilton science alumni, and a panel on “The Changing Faces of Medical Education.”
The building is commonly referred to in later sources as the “Taylor Science Center,” indicating it was named for a donor, though the naming details are not fully documented in available Spectator sources.
Open Questions
- Who was the Taylor donor after whom the building was named, and what was the size of their gift?
- When did the “Taylor” name come into official use?
- Full list of departments and programs housed in the building at opening