John R. Minahan Science Hall Exhibit

The John R. Minahan Science Hall was constructed from 1959 to 1967. The Green Bay attorney Victor McCormick donated a naming gift of $1,000,000 to the building and the college received another $931,153 through a federal grant from the Higher Education Facilities Act. The rest of the money was from more than 600 industrial, professional, alumini and individual gifts. The building is named after a prominent Green Bay physician and surgeon, Dr. John R. Minahan, who is the uncle of Victor McCormick.

Lately, in 1995, St. Norbert received a grant of $250,000 from the National Science Foundation, which was used to update the faculty research areas, develop a networked student computer room, renovate two research aquarium rooms, and create and upgrade an environmental measurements laboratory.

At the beginning of the buildings life, the Physics, Psychology, and English departments were located on the first floor; the mathematics department, the computer center, and the science library were located on the second floor, and the Biology Center was located on the third floor, which was made available because of all the college alumni gifts. Besides the Biology Center, the third floor also contained the zoology, biology, and botany laboratories, and the chemistry and geography departments were located on the fourth floor. The fifth floor had a green house for the biology department and the psychology department laboratories.

However, after the Todd Wehr and Cofrin buildings were built, there were a lot of changes made to the building. The science library was moved to the Todd Wehr Library in 1979. The media services office, business office, the copy center, and the registrar's offices were moved to the second floor of JMS. Then, the mathematics department and the computer center were moved to Cofrin Hall. Recently, after the new library was built, the business office and the registrar's offices were moved to the remodeled Todd Wehr Hall.

Work Cited
Pieters, Donald L. St. Norbert College Buildings. Centennial Edition ed. De Pere, WI: St. Norbert College, 1998. Print.