Kettering Hall of Science

Date

1961-present
Sperry Neuroscience Wing, 1990-present

Location

130 West Lorain Street (partially demolished)

Architects/Collaborators

Austin Company, Cleveland (architects)
Edward A. Eichstedt, Detroit, MI (landscape architect)

Style

Modern: Contemporary

History

Designed and built by the Austin Company of Cleveland, Ohio, the Kettering Hall of Science was completed in 1961 to house the Oberlin College departments of Biology and Chemistry. It was named for the late Charles F. "Boss" Kettering, renowned automotive engineer and inventor, and its cost was met by gifts from Oberlin alumni, friends of the College, corporations and philanthropic foundations. The Charles F. Kettering Foundation gave the largest single gift. According to the College's dedication booklet for Kettering Hall, the building met admirably an urgent College need for modern science facilities in the mid-20th century. The design incorporated modern laboratories for student coursework, faculty research, and graduate and honor students; a radiobiology lab, greenhouse, natural history museum, refrigeration room, cold and warm-blooded animal rooms, aquarium, photography darkroom, and lecture and seminar rooms. Additionally the building housed a science library funded in part by the Class of 1904.

In 1989 the board of trustees approved a plan to build an addition to Kettering to provide adequate space and up-to-date facilities for Oberlin's neuroscience program. Named for Nobel-Prize winning alumnus Roger Sperry '35, the Roger W. Sperry Neuroscience Building was completed in 1990.

In the new Science Center design scheme, the Kettering Science Library and the eastern half of the building were removed. The western half of the building, which housed the biology classrooms, laboratories, the Sperry Neuroscience wing, and offices, was incorporated into the Science Center.

Source

Oberlin College Archives, College General Records, Buildings and Dedications.