There is no area of inquiry with greater potential to shift the course of the human experience.
Science at HWS is a primary component of the liberal arts education that cultivates skills of inquiry, analysis, synthesis and communication. Generations of students and faculty at HWS have explored the critical questions, both timeless and timely, that science presents. The creation of a state-of the-art integrated science center on campus will provide the physical facilities that allow for collaborations across disciplines and that match the sophistication of our curriculum.
Design of the Science Center is underway and renderings will be available soon.
Support for the Sciences
A new state-of the-art science building will provide interdisciplinary teaching and lab spaces that can accommodate students from across the science curriculum, as we also revitalize current spaces to create a center for the entire science curriculum. Properly equipped, Hobart and William Smith will be well positioned as a leader in STEM programming, attracting the brightest, most inquisitive prospective students and preparing them for lives of consequence through careers in the sciences.
Gifts for the Science Center
For Kevin Stein ’88, studying science and math is like “learning a language” — one that’s “practical, pragmatic and teaches wonderful problem-solving skills.” Stein and his family have committed a leadership gift of $5 million toward the new science facility
Read More
Trustee Dr. Richard L. Wasserman ‘70 remembers “relatively little sophisticated instrumentation” when he arrived on campus in the fall of 1966. “I recall the excitement over the arrival of the first NMR,” he notes. To support ongoing scientific education and research, and to lay the foundation for future generations, Wasserman and his wife, Tina, have committed to a $500,000 gift in support of the new facility.
Read More
“Over the years, I’ve become convinced that the best preparation for becoming a physician was at a liberal arts college with a strong science program,” says Dr. Arnold Cohen ’71, P’05, a retired gastroenterologist. To help continue that legacy for future students, Dr. Cohen along with his wife, Dr. Colleen R. Carey P’05, have committed $500,000 to the new integrated science center as well as the Annual Fund.
Read More
Did You Know?
Mentorship that Maximizes Potential
Kevin Frost ’25 shares how his mentor, Professor of Biology Meghan Brown, is helping him prepare for his future as a biologist.
Tackling the World’s Emerging Challenges
HWS scientists are path-breaking leaders in areas from watershed management practices to neuronal systems to migratory bird patterns to plant genomics to invasive-species studies. Together with faculty colleagues who bring scholarly interests in planetary systems, climate change, cognition, mindfulness, cancer, microbes, genetics and more, they form a community of scientists providing wide-ranging opportunities for students to hone research skills and participate in graduate-level experiences. Sustaining and enhancing these transformative opportunities calls for increased investment in the spaces, programs and people that fuel them.
NEWS FROM THE SCIENCES
BRAINPOWER + SPIDEY-SENSES
For more than a year, Khairul Islam ’25 and Assistant Professor of Computer Science Chris Fietkiewicz have been designing, programming and building an array of arachnid-like robots.
READ MORE
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
With drone monitoring, GIS mapping and community outreach, Quincey Johnson ’16 is driving water conservation efforts in Montana that echo her forward-thinking research at HWS.
READ MORE
LAB TESTED
Benchwork in Professor of Chemistry Justin Miller’s lab armed Brogan Dietsche ’25 and Jadon Layne ’25 with the molecular chemistry research skills to thrive in internships at MIT and Yale.
READ MORE
ON THE SCIENTIFIC FRONTIER
From Seneca Lake to the Yukon River, the challenges of field research build expertise for MaryBridget Horvath ’24.
READ MORE
ROCKING OUT
Now a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, Jonas Toupal ’19 is tracking the downstream effects of lithium mining and looking for ways to safeguard against them.
READ MORE
HWS SCIENCE PROGRAMS
Aquatic Science
Atmospheric Science
Biochemistry
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Data Analytics
Environmental Studies
Geoscience
Mathematics
Physics
Psychological Science
Public Health
FURTHER TOGETHER
Support the creation of an integrated science community at HWS by funding facilities and equipment (capital), and programming and people (endowment) needs.
Support the Sciences