Norris Hall of Chemistry Renovation Spring 2025
Norris Hall of Chemistry Renovation Update
Thank you for your support of the Norris Hall of Chemistry Renovation. Your investment is crucial to ensuring that Oxy’s faculty and students have the technology, space, and resources they need to teach, learn, and perform cuttingedge research.
After a visionary $5 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation in 2022, this project has inspired additional support from numerous other foundations as well as individuals from the Oxy community, including every member of the Board of Trustees. As of April 1, 2025, Occidental has raised over $17.7 million. This figure is more than 80% of our fundraising goal for this phase, allowing us to move forward with the next stage of construction.
Today, we are pleased to celebrate the resounding success of the Barbara and Michael Gibby ’68 Norris Hall of Chemistry Renovation Project Challenge. Not only did we rise to the challenge to raise the $700,000 needed to unlock the Gibbys’ transformational $1 million gift, we raised an additional $1.5 million for the project from more than 100 individuals and foundations, including a $500,000 gift from The Rose Hills Foundation, which will name a lecture hall in honor of President Emeritus Harry J. Elam, Jr. in the renovated building.
We are thrilled to celebrate recent leadership gifts from the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, which has now contributed over $1 million to the renovation, a $1 million gift from Ed Clinton ’68 and Diane Clinton ’68 and more than $450,000 in gifts from the estate of James A. Conlin ’74.
“Oxy students need these tools to be ready for their future endeavors in the sciences and the world needs scientists to discover and unwrap the future needs of our planet. The close connections between professor and student that we experienced was a privilege and a rarity. It’s our obligation to preserve that experience for current and future Oxy students.”
— Ed Clinton ’68 and Diane Clinton ’68
We are grateful to everyone who has already generously given. With your help, we have begun some initial work behind the scenes.
Construction Progress
The College has completed critical studies and testing, which will inform the drafting for the building’s redesign. The design of both the basement and first floor schematic designs have been finalized and reviewed by engineers, and the next stage is to begin design development. Despite the logistical challenges a construction project of this size presents, we are pleased to share that our faculty and facilities department have worked closely to establish a plan for continued instruction in the building during construction.
Honoring President Emeritus
Harry J. Elam, Jr.
More than $750,000 was raised from the Oxy community to name the patio in honor of President Emeritus Harry J. Elam, Jr. This reimagined outdoors space will be a central, communal area for academic and creative thought exchange, peer learning, and connection, a fitting honor for a president who was so dedicated to fostering community. This gift, combined with The Rose Hills Foundation’s $500,000 gift, is a wonderful tribute to President Emeritus Elam and all he has done for the College.
Recent College Highlights
Occidental College’s research activity has officially been recognized in the 2025 Carnegie Classifications, the first year that four-year undergraduate colleges have been included in the prestigious Carnegie Classifications. “This designation serves as a recognition of Occidental’s high level of scholarship,” says Kathryn Leonard, interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. “It speaks to the caliber and impact of our faculty’s research and creative work.”
Our chemistry students and alumni are continuing to do remarkable research and work in the labs and out in the field. A few recent highlights include:
Fletcher Jones Science Scholar Mario Alvarado ’25 is working with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Raul Navarro on a project that will build on previous work done in Navarro’s lab around a chemical process—palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative allylation—to access molecules known to exhibit useful biological properties.
Eleanor Goddard ’25, a biochemistry major, and Stephen Amankonah Sekyere ’27, an economics and mathematics double major, were selected as members of the 2024 Project for Peace grantee
“I am so very excited by and thrilled with the commitment of our alumni, donors, and friends to the much needed renovation of the Norris Chemistry Building. I have long believed that remaking Norris is critical to the future of the College. My sincere gratitude goes out to every single individual who has made such donations in my name. I am truly honored and deeply moved.”
— President Emeritus Harry J. Elam, Jr.
cohort. Each year, Projects for Peace awards $10,000 grants to student peacebuilders to develop innovative, community-centered, and scalable responses to the world’s most pressing issues. Last summer, Sekyere and Goddard traveled to Ghana to implement their project, “Seeds of Equity: Empowering Young Girls in Ablekuma Through Technological Access and STEM Promotion.” The project aims to build stronger and more sustainable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics foundations for girls in Ablekuma, Ghana.
Recent chemistry graduates Jack Leonard ’22 and Rachel Zhang ’23 were awarded 2024 fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) to support their ongoing academic research. Leonard and Zhang received awards for their respective studies of the chemistry of life processes and macromolecular, supramolecular, and nanochemistry. Leonard is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry at UC Irvine, while Zhang is working toward a Ph.D. in chemistry at UC Santa Barbara. Thank you for making such immersive research and educational experiences possible for our students and faculty!
“Thank you for investing in the future scientists at Oxy! This renovation isn’t just about new lab benches and equipment, it’s about creating a space where students like me can experiment, collaborate, and push the boundaries of discovery. I’m grateful to be part of a community that values hands-on learning and innovation!” — Isabella Lambert ’25, biology and theater and performance studies double major
To support the Norris Hall of Chemistry Renovation, contact us at giving@oxy.edu or make a gift online at give.oxy.edu/norris.
