The College has announced plans for a new building, made possible by a lead gift from John Wold ’38 and his wife, Jane, that will be a focal point for the intersection of disciplines.
“It is my pleasure to announce that, thanks to the Wolds, Union will embark on a project that will solidify the College’s role as a national leader in the integration of science, engineering and the liberal arts,” said President Stephen C. Ainlay. “The Wolds have long been steadfast and loyal supporters of Union, in particular those initiatives that allow the College to bridge the traditional disciplinary boundaries as only Union can.”
“Jane and I are pleased that we can help Union to further its unique mission as a leader in the liberal arts, sciences and engineering,” said John Wold, one of the American West's leaders in the development of minerals and conservation of natural resources. “We look forward to joining with others who share our conviction that Union is especially well suited among America’s colleges and universities to offer the kind of broad and diverse education that is essential to leaders of this century.”
Wold, of Casper, Wyoming, is a geologist and president of Wold Minerals Company. He is a former U.S. Congressman and Wyoming State Representative. The American Heritage Foundation of the University of Wyoming in 1999 elected him as the “Wyoming Oil/Gas and Mineral Man of the 20th Century.”
The Wolds have directed more than $13 million of their original $20 million You are Union Campaign commitment as a catalyst for a teaching and research center that will unify the College’s existing facilities with the central campus. The College plans to solicit corporations, state and government agencies, alumni, parents and friends to complete the funding for the building.
The new building, informed by a campus master plan but still in the planning stages, will likely be located adjacent to the Science and Engineering building and the F.W. Olin Center, just north of Schaffer Library. A campus committee is soliciting architectural designs and construction proposals.
The center will address the College’s Strategic Plan by developing and broadening programs in emerging interdisciplinary fields. It will contain state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms, computer facilities, small group study areas and public spaces that will attract students and faculty from across the College. The main atrium, an academic “town square,” will become a focus of Union’s intellectual life and provide a setting to host campus-wide events. Flexible and functional spaces will naturally draw the liberal arts into collaboration with science and engineering and greatly enhance both teaching and research.
Wold’s father, Peter, was professor of physics at Union from 1920 to 1945. Wold refers to himself as a “campus kid” who grew up at Union, developing an interest in geology after discovering a pile of discarded mineral samples outside Union’s geology department.
He earned a bachelor’s in geology from Union, and was Union’s second exchange scholar at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He earned a master’s degree in geology from Cornell University, and an honorary degree from the University of Wyoming.
As a Union alumnus, he is a trustee emeritus, having served as a trustee from 1981 to 1990. He is honorary chairman of the You are Union Campaign. In 1999, he received the College’s Eliphalet Nott Medal, given to alumni who have attained distinction in their field.
He and his wife, the former Jane A. Pearson, a graduate of Wheelock College, were married in 1946 in their native Schenectady. They have three children and eight grandchildren. Their grandson, Joseph, is a member of Union’s class of 2010.