Chemistry New Space: Strong Hall
The University of Tennessee and the Department of Chemistry currently have an optimism and excitement for the future, the likes of which I have never seen. Capital improvements are in progress in nearly every area of campus. The Department of Chemistry is directly involved in two of these, Strong Hall and the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM). As you may recall from the Fall 2012 newsletter, Strong Hall will include new instructional laboratories for general, organic, honors and analytical chemistry. We have been meeting regularly with the design team and plans for these laboratories are evolving. The Strong Hall building site is off of Cumberland Avenue and 16th Street. The presentation of the building along Cumberland Avenue, which is shown left, is striking. The campus along Cumberland Avenue will be transformed in the next few years by three new buildings including Strong Hall, the new Student Center and Science Lab I on Cumberland and 13th. JIAM is the first building on the new Cherokee campus off Alcoa Highway near the UT hospital. I would encourage you to drive by this site sometime and see the progress for yourself. I think you will find that the view of the bend in the river from the JIAM site is stunning. While facilities are critical to the function of the University, education of students is our core mission and our faculty and staff strive for excellence in meeting that goal. I continue to be impressed with how our faculty, students, and their achievements continue to improve.
Charles Feigerle
Professor and Department Head