School of Nursing debuts Patricia Champion Frist Hall
Patricia Champion Frist gets a congratulatory kiss from her husband, Dr. Thomas Frist Jr., at this week's dedication of the Nursing School's new building. (Photo by Donna Jones Bailey)
Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., dean of the School of Nursing (right), and Julie Goldstein Boehm talked at the reception following the building's dedication. (Photo by Donna Jones Bailey)
The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing now has 25,000 square feet of additional space for student education and faculty research.
The nursing school¹s newest building, Patricia Champion Frist Hall, was dedicated on Monday. The three-story brick structure houses needed additional classrooms and office space to augment the schools mission.
The dedication was led by Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt, Dr. Harry R. Jacobson, vice chancellor for Health Affairs, and Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., dean of the School of Nursing. Also attending were Patricia Champion Frist and her husband, Dr. Thomas Frist Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. The building was made possible by a $2 million gift from the Frists, both of whom are graduates of Vanderbilt University.
Frist Hall includes a new student lounge, funded by the late Dorothy Goldstein, former chair of the Nursing School¹s Julia Hereford Society; an 80-seat, multi-media classroom; two multi-purpose rooms; and an additional 30-seat classroom.
"It is a dream come true because more space will allow us to advance our research interests," Conway-Welch said. "The students are thrilled because they¹ll have new space and a new atrium where they can relax, eat lunch, and just spread out. This is a special day and we are most grateful."
All of the rooms will provide the capability for using computer-generated and ceiling-mounted projection systems.
Jacobson said the new teaching and research space is long overdue.
"This is a wonderful, state-of-the-art, first-class facility. I think it should be the envy of any school of nursing in the country."
The 80-seat, interactive teaching center/classroom is made possible by a gift from the late Carl Vernon Russell in memory of his wife, Sarah Frances Mullins Russell, who earned her nursing degree from Vanderbilt in 1943.
The room has a horseshoe-type shape and is tiered, so each student will be able to see others more clearly, allowing student-to-student interaction. There are computer hookups at each desk, which can be networked with the class instructor. Teleconferences can also be held from the classroom.
"The Russell classroom, with its computer capabilities and technology, will quite literally change the way we deliver content to the students," Conway-Welch said. "This is the classroom of the millenium and we¹re thrilled."
Also attending Monday¹s ceremony were Richard Lane Brown III, executor of the Carl Vernon Russell estate, and Julie Goldstein Boehm, chair of the nursing school¹s Julia Hereford Society and daughter of the late Dorothy S. Goldstein. The new student lounge was made possible through the generosity of Julie and her husband, Dr. Frank Boehm, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The building also includes 35 faculty offices plus workrooms, secretarial space and three conference rooms.
The architect for the Frist Hall project was David Miller of Earl Swensson and Associates. The contractor was American Contractors.