WKU News

WKU dedicated Ogden College Hall on Monday afternoon.

The four-floor, 80,000-square-foot facility features more than 30 labs for biology, chemistry, and physics and astronomy along with student advising offices, a 300-seat auditorium and the office suite for the Ogden College of Science and Engineering.

The $40 million building replaces Thompson College North Wing, which closed in January 2014 and was razed in January 2015.

“This building, Ogden College Hall, will never replace the memories many of you have for North Wing,” said Dr. Cheryl Stevens, dean of Ogden College of Science and Engineering. “Instead, it will allow a new set of students to form memories of their time here at Ogden College and WKU. We designed this building to be used by the students.”

In addition to research, teaching and lab space, the building includes student lounge/study areas on each floor that encourage collaborative learning, she said.

“We’re opening a building today, but this celebration is about the extraordinary teaching and research that will occur in this building for decades to come,” WKU President Timothy C. Caboni said. “What you see here in Ogden College Hall is the very best example of how we can nurture and fulfill WKU’s student-centered applied research mission. This is a state-of-the-art laboratory building designed to engage students in STEM-research fields.”

President Caboni also thanked area legislators for their support over the past 20 years to rebuild WKU’s science campus.

“I’m excited to see students and faculty working together in these labs, using this space to do what we do best as a university, preparing students to make a good living and a great life for themselves and for those around them,” he said. “This is a great day for them and for all of us at WKU.”

The building also was designed with very aggressive energy efficiency goals, said Tracy Steward, mechanical engineering for CMTA Consulting Engineers. “Our energy efficiency for this building will save this university about $150,000 a year in energy,” she said.

Sarah Lamere, project manager and lead architect for RossTarrant Architects, thanked Dr. Stevens as well as Ogden College faculty, staff and students for their assistance on the project.

“I learned so much about science and I’m not a scientist,” she said. “What an opportunity and what a wonderful building that we have all as a team created.”

Davis Ranburger, a graduate student in chemistry who spoke on behalf of the Ogden College student body, said the state-of-the-art facility will increase opportunities for WKU students.

“On behalf of all the past, present and future students of the Ogden College of Science and Engineering, I want to say thank you from all of us,” said Ranburger, a 2017 WKU graduate with degrees in chemistry and biology. “The possibilities it holds for the future of teaching, learning and research are limitless.”

Contact: Dr. Cheryl Stevens, (270) 745-4449