For more information, contact Susan Griffith, 216-368-1004 or sbg4@po.cwru.edu.

Posted 10-15-01

Physics professorship honors Pytte;
Biology Building is now DeGrace Hall

photos by Toni Searle Bonnie Himmelman (left), president of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, makes a surprise announcement of the foundation's to establish the Agnar Pytte Professorship in Physics. The announcement came during the October 5 dedication of the Agnar Pytte Center for Science Education and Research. Pytte (seated, right) and his wife Anah (seated, center) attended the ceremony. Other presenters were Interim President James Wagner (behind Himmelman); Sam Savin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (center, standing); and Phil Ranney (right, standing), a member of the 1525 Foundation board.

The announcement of a new gift to CWRU's College of Arts and Sciences came Friday, October 5 during dedication ceremonies for new Agnar Pytte Center for Science Education and Research. The gift honors President Emeritus Agnar Pytte and establishes the Agnar Pytte Professorship in Physics.

Bonnie Himmelman, president of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation of Chevy Chase, Maryland, said the foundation made this gift in honor of Agnar Pytte, who has been a respected nuclear physicist, provost of Dartmouth College, and served as CWRU president for 12 years. Pytte is on the foundation's board.

In March, representatives from CWRU approached the foundation to inquire about such a gift from the foundation of which Pytte is a member, and they hoped it could be a surprise for the dedication.

The board viewed the idea with enthusiasm board, Himmelman said, but added that "it took an act of espionage to pass the resolution." She told the audience of more than 200 people that to pass the resolution by the Sherman Fairchild board it had to notify members of meeting and could not intentionally exclude any member from voting.

The foundation approved the gift in June, but kept the details of its donation a secret until the dedication ceremony. She said that Pytte was "stunned" when the Fairchild Foundation passed the resolution at its June retreat.

Among major donors to the Pytte Center are (from left) Anne Clapp (for the new four-story Anne and M. Roger Clapp Hall), Mayme DeGrace (for a gift from her and her late husband William that resulted in the Biology Building being renamed DeGrace Hall), and Dorothy Hovorka (for the glass and steel Hovorka Atrium that unites the three buildings).

Also announced was that the Biology Building now has a new name. As part of the $33 million plan to unite the Departments of Biology and Chemistry -- two of the most popular disciplines in the college -- into a state-of-the-art facility, the Romanesque stone-structure built in 1897 will have the new name of DeGrace Hall.

In thanking major donors such as Dorothy Hovorka for the Hovorka Atrium, a glass and steel structure that unites three buildings, and Anne Clapp for the new four-story addition of the Anne and M. Roger Clapp Hall, Wagner sent a special thank you to Mayme DeGrace. Naming of the building, he said, commemorates the generous gift from the alumna and her late husband William.

DeGrace is a retired professor from Baldwin-Wallace College and an alumna of the University's graduate program. She earned the M.S. in music education in 1951 and the Ed.D. in 1962, both from the graduate school of Western Reserve University. In addition to teaching at Baldwin-Wallace, she was an elementary school teacher and principal in Lorain.

Interim President James Wagner and his wife Debbie (left) welcomed President Emeritus Agnar Pytte (right) and his wife, Anah, to campus for the October 5 dedication of the Agnar Pytte Center for Science Education and Research.

In addition to Pytte and his wife Anah, guests at the event included John Bassett, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences who is now president of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and his wife Kay; as well as Richard Zdanis, who served as CWRU's provost for 12 years, primarily under Pytte's administration, and his wife Bobbie.

Planning for the new science center began in 1993. The center was part of $235 million in new and renovated facilities begun during Pytte's 12 years as president and one of the major renovations projects to the sciences under the leadership of Bassett, CWRU's first dean of arts and sciences.

Bassett started renovating science facilities and completed the Rockefeller Hall for the Department of Physics while at CWRU.

The completion of the 204,000-square foot science center project came under Sam Savin, the College's new dean.

"The science center is a key development in the College of Arts and Sciences," said Savin. He added that it will have an impact on the future for the college that has one third of its undergraduates and a fourth of its graduate students enrolled in chemistry or biology that will use the new facility as its new home for classes and research.

Upon his arrival at CWRU as an assistant professor of geological sciences in 1967, Savin said that he had no place to live and spent his first weeks surrounded by books and resting in a sleeping bag on the floor of his Millis office. "It has been my first home in Cleveland, and I welcome these improvements to it," he said.

Pytte commented that he was delighted with the science center. He also thanked the University, but noted that he did not feel the science center would be where it is today without the leadership of the 1525 Foundation, which has been a long-time supporter of the University.

The development of the science center received a boost when the 1525 Foundation offered a challenge grant of $12 million. According to Phil Ranney, a member of the 1525 Foundation board, 197 individuals, corporations, and foundations responded to the challenge to realize the completion of the center.

After talking to students about the importance of the science center, Ranney quoted one student as saying that a great university is based on the attitudes of its students and faculty, but an environment like this can rub off on people's attitudes.

Ranney further quoted the student as saying "that combination of attitude and environment will make this a great science center."