By Emily Glory Peters
After more than a decade of planning and two years of construction, the dust cleared this fall for the official opening of The Nucleus, a new state-of-the-art science center shared between Scripps and Pitzer Colleges.
Designed to accommodate students’ soaring interests in the sciences, the facility links the existing W.M. Keck Science Center to the 70,000-square-foot new building, providing additional laboratories, classrooms, new equipment, collaborative learning spaces, courtyards, plazas, and a rooftop greenhouse. The west-facing plaza also features an original art installation, “Suspended Meditation,” by Scripps alum, artist, sculptor, and MacArthur Fellow Elizabeth Turk ’83.
Scripps College President Amy Marcus-Newhall at the opening celebration of The Nucleus
The Nucleus is a crowning achievement for Scripps and Pitzer. The collaborative investment connects the two campuses to create endless opportunities for partnership, exchange, and scientific discovery, helping to meet student enrollment trends and strengthen the Colleges’ positions as leaders in education and advancement in STEM fields.
“The Nucleus is more than a building…it’s a symbol of what the Scripps community can accomplish when we combine our collective ingenuity, resources, and determination to achieve what others may believe is impossible,” says Scripps President Amy-Marcus Newhall. “We look forward to extending the science department’s impact on future students and reinforcing the centrality of the sciences to our distinctive liberal arts curriculum.”
Students and Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Chris Dettmar in a new laboratory in The Nucleus
The generosity of current and former Scripps Trustees, including Jennifer McDonnell P’18, created momentum to make the expansion possible. Gifts from the John Stauffer Charitable Trust, the Carolyn Lake Claremont Foundation, Scripps Trustee Sara Zion and Tushar Shah P’26, and several anonymous donors have also fueled the ongoing transformation of The Nucleus and the Department of Natural Sciences.
“This facility was only possible thanks to the generous support of the many donors who believed in our vision, invested in our students and faculty, and partnered with Pitzer and Scripps Colleges to turn this ambitious construction project from a dream into a reality,” says Marcus-Newhall.
Most exciting of all, adds Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Mary Hatcher-Skeers, is finally witnessing The Nucleus come to life with young scholars of all academic interests.
“These new labs were created with innovative curriculum in mind—and we’re already reaping the benefit of my colleagues’ expertise in both pedagogy and research,” she says. “It’s a gift to walk through these halls and see them filled with students.”