New chemistry building opens Sept. 15

On Friday, Sept. 15, the university’s newest building, the $26 million Chemistry Building, will be dedicated and opened to the public for the first time.

The seven-floor research tower on the corner of Charter and Johnson provides much-needed space for the chemistry department, adding 20 state-of-the-art research modules as well as space for larger, shared instrumentation.

The new facility, according to chemistry professor Robert J. McMahon and chemistry chair Charles P. Casey, will provide room for 80 to 100 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows as well as undergraduate students.

Already, the new building has helped the department recruit critical new faculty and attract the most promising students to UW–Madison’s internationally renowned chemistry department.

The new building augments two other chemistry buildings adjacent to it, the Farrington Daniels Chemistry building built in 1967 and the J.H. Mathews Chemistry Building, completed in 1960. Both are undergoing extensive renovation at an estimated cost of $13 million.

The new 48,000 square-foot building and the renovation of both the Mathews and Daniels buildings are part of the WISTAR Program. The program financed the project with a combination of public and private funds totaling $39 million, including $17 million from the state of Wisconsin, $13 million from the William F. Vilas Trust, $2.6 million from the federal government, and grants from the College of Letters and Science, the UW Foundation and Dow Chemical as well as gifts from alumni, friends and faculty.

The building will be dedicated in a ceremony to be held on the front terrace of the new building at the corner of Charter and Johnson Friday, Sept. 15, at 3 p.m. A reception and tours of the new building will be given from the building’s atrium, 3:30-5:30 p.m. that day. For more information, contact Robert McMahon, (608) 262-0660, or Charles Casey, (608) 262-8005.