The transformation in store for this hole in the ground recalls a Grecian urn emerging from clay.
Behold the Maureen and Richard J. Egan Engineering/Science Research Center in its earliest stages of construction. It might not look so here, but the center represented a series of earthshattering firsts for Northeastern.
First, a little foundation: In 1993, then president John A. Curry, LA’56, MEd’60, H’96, announced ambitious plans for a five-year campus construction and renovation program—including a brand-new science and engineering research center, to be built adjacent to Snell Library. The ultramodern facility would boost Northeastern’s scholarship and exploration, and draw more first-rate researchers to campus.
A federal grant for $15 million helped kick off the $30 million research center’s funding. At the time, it was a record-breaking gift for Northeastern.
In 1994, trustee Richard Egan, E’61, H’95, donated $6.7 million for the facility—then the largest private donation in Northeastern history. One of the founders of EMC Corporation, the data-storage giant, Egan was eager to see his alma mater turn out more engineers and scientists.
When the 95,000-square-foot Egan Center opened in fall 1996, it quickly elevated the university’s profile. A dozen years later, it’s still doing the same thing. The building houses experts pursuing innovations in optical science, nanoscale technology, and high-rate nanomanufacturing, among other areas. Blossoming life sciences work happens here, too, including collaborations between biologists and engineers on new imaging ideas.
Northeastern definitely hit pay dirt.
— Magdalena Hernandez, MBA’02