NDSU unveils Sugihara Hall, a new science building on campus

NDSU has a new $51.2 million science building that students were able to attend class in today.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — NDSU has a new $51.2 million science building that students were able to attend class in today.

Sugihara Hall is named after the late James Sugihara, a former chemistry professor and dean of NDSU College of Science and Mathematics.

His grandchildren and great grandchildren were at the ribbon cutting.

“It’s just very humbling. It’s not really surprising knowing what he meant to the school and what the school meant to him so it’s not surprising; it’s just kind of surreal but just very humbling. It’s kind of cool thinking that my kids could be walking down campus one day and see that, and just remember their great grandfather and his legacy and be proud of that fact,” said his grandson Brandon Sugihara.

People who came out reminisced on the impact and legacy left behind.

“He just loved, loved all the relationships he built with his students and cherished that to the day he died basically,” said Sugihara.

Classes started in the building Monday morning. The focus will be research in the fields of chemistry and geoscience.

The spacious building is full of state of the art labs, classrooms, and offices for faculty.

It also has many windows to allow natural sunlight into work spaces. Educators say natural light provides a more productive learning environment.

“We have two classrooms in this facility and then we have four teaching labs and then the rest is all research labs. This building is more research driven than most of our other buildings. LED lighting throughout the facility which is more common than not, but in a lot of labs we have daylight harvesting control, so if the daylight gets good enough the lights actually shut off because we don’t need them,” said Director of Facilities Management Michael Ellington.

Another feature is all the equipment is water cooled through a building controlled processing coolant loop. This allows all the water to be recycled and reused so no water is wasted.

“He always taught me to give back which obviously that was his whole life, was to give back and help inspire people,” said Sugihara.