Science Hill is an area of the Yale University campus primarily devoted to physical and biological sciences . It is located in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut .
52-463: Originally a 36-acre residential estate known as Sachem's Wood, it was purchased by Yale in 1910 as a land bank. To expand the former Sheffield Scientific School , the hill was allocated to large science laboratories and the main buildings of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies . Several laboratory buildings were completed in the 1910s, but most of the campus was completed during
104-482: A traprock ridge , Mill Rock, to its north. The south–north rise of Science Hill is approximately 80 feet (24 m) at a 4.5% grade , processing northward to a peak elevation of 150 feet (46 m) above sea level near the Yale Divinity School . The Science Hill site is not known to be inhabited until 1784, when it was purchased by James Hillhouse , New Haven's largest landowner. Hillhouse built
156-729: A 5-year PhD program. Still offering forestry instruction, the school has the oldest graduate forestry program in the United States. The school changed its name to the Yale School of the Environment in July 2020. It was previously the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies . The school was founded in 1900 as the Yale Forest School , to provide high-level forestry training suited to American conditions. At
208-555: A campus plan commissioned by the university articulated similar concerns, calling the area "an ill-defined and unattractive pedestrian environment" lacking a "sense of place and focus." Since 2000, Yale has invested significant resources in improving buildings and connecting areas within Science Hill. Several sculptures decorate the hillside. To commemorate his work to found the Sheffield Scientific School,
260-569: A new research center were rebuilt in 2017. The school has an active tradition of student involvement in academic and extracurricular life. Many students take part in student interest groups, which organize events around environmental issues of interest to them. These groups range in interest from Conservation Finance and International Development, to the Built Environment and "Fresh & Salty: The Society for Marine and Coastal Systems.”There are also social and recreational groups, such as
312-597: A school of engineering. These programs made up the Yale Scientific School. In 1853 and 1854, science and engineering courses were listed in the Yale College course catalog as offered by the Yale Scientific School. Porter elicited help from his father-in-law, Joseph Earl Sheffield , and in 1858, Sheffield donated over US$ 100,000 to purchase the old Medical Department building for the scientific school. This gift included two newly-renovated wings within
364-608: A statue of Benjamin Silliman cast by John Ferguson Weir resides outside the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory. A Roy Lichtenstein sculpture entitled "Modern Head" was placed at the base of Science Hill, near Hillhouse Avenue, in 1993. A reflection on James Hillhouse's property is given in Lydia Sigourney 's poem Moonlight at Sachem's Wood , which is accompanied by some notes upon his family. This
416-433: A wide road, now Hillhouse Avenue , to extend to the foot of the hill, but planned to use the ridge itself for his own residence, and called the tract "Temple Square." Hillhouse bequeathed the land to his son, James Abraham Hillhouse, who built a family estate known as Sachem's Wood, a name derived from European-descended Hillhouse's supposedly Native American facial features. A secluded mansion , designed by Ithiel Town ,
468-952: Is housed in a mansion at the top of the hill and possesses a farm across the street. The dominant architectural styles of Science Hill are Gothic revival and mid-century modernist. Later buildings, like the Environmental Science Center and the Bass Center, have attempted to harmonize these earlier styles. Several buildings are recognized as important architectural monuments, most notably Eero Saarinen's Ingalls Rink and Philip Johnson's Kline Biology Tower. For most of its history, Science Hill has been criticized for its lack of site planning. Architectural historian Elizabeth Mills Brown appraised its 1960s incarnation as Yale's "most poorly integrated, inefficient, and incoherent complex," observing that undeveloped land had offered too much freedom to plan comprehensively. More recently,
520-488: Is managed by the school as a multiple-use working forest. Yale-Toumey Forest, near Keene, New Hampshire , was set up by James W. Toumey (a former dean of the school) in 1913. Other Yale forestlands include Goss Woods, Crowell Forest, Cross Woods, Bowen Forest , and Crowell Ravine. A three-alarm fire burned several buildings within the Yale Myers Forest Camp on May 28, 2016. The damaged camp buildings and
572-596: The Ecological Society of America . In 1950, the "activist wing" of that society formed The Nature Conservancy . Besides the school's own forests, Yale has used a number of other sites in the eastern United States for field education over the years. From 1904 to 1926, the summer session leading to a master's degree in forestry was held at Grey Towers and Forester's Hall in Milford, Pennsylvania . Beginning in 1912, Yale classes took occasional field trips to
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#1732772226284624-916: The Morrill Act starting in 1863 and an agricultural course was begun. Land grant status, however, was transferred to the Storrs Agricultural School in 1893 after arguments by the state grange that the school was not a proper "farm school". A series of lectures, later known as the Sheffield Lectures was instituted by the school in 1866. Professor Othniel Charles Marsh of the school led four Yale scientific expeditions in search of fossils in 1870-3. The Sheffield School innovated with an undergraduate course offering science and mathematics as well as economics, English, geography, history, modern languages, philology and political science. Sheffield also pioneered graduate education in
676-468: The Yale Alumni Weekly ) who "took control out of President Hadley 's hands and forced a radical reorganization of Yale". In 1956, the Sheffield Scientific School was terminated as an active school. The Board of Trustees still exists to oversee the Sheffield Scientific School property and meet legal requirements. The school's faculty is defined as teachers of science to graduate students under
728-427: The Yale School of Medicine and have laboratory space within the medical campus. Most offices and laboratories of the Yale School of Forestry are housed on Science Hill, with a few to its north at Marsh Hall . The school first came to Science Hill in 1924 with the completion of Sage Hall as its new main building. In 2008, the school opened Kroon Hall adjacent to Sage. The school also occupies several former mansions at
780-530: The "atomic age" prompted a second period of laboratory building. University president A. Whitney Griswold relied on modernist architects for these facilities, breaking with pre-war gothic fervor. He asked Paul Schweikher for a Gibbs Laboratory design, Eero Saarinen for Ingalls Rink , and Philip Johnson for the Kline Biology Tower, Chemistry Laboratory, and Geology Building. Like Olmsted and Rogers, Saarinen and Johnson were also asked to improve
832-775: The 20th century, Yale President Rick Levin announced new investments in sciences and medicine. In the years following, the university has launched at least five major building and renovation projects, including new buildings for biology, chemistry, environmental science, and the Forestry School. The departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences with facilities on Science Hill are: Astronomy; Chemistry; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry; Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology; Geology & Geophysics; Physics, and Applied Physics. Some biology faculty have joint appointments in
884-587: The Colony Club, 1848 (now Berzelius ), the Cloister, 1863 (now Book and Snake ), St. Anthony Hall , 1867 (now a 3-year society, also called Delta Psi), St. Elmo , 1889 (also a senior society), as well as Franklin Hall, 1865 ( Theta Xi ), York Hall, 1877 (Chi Phi), Sachem Hall, 1893 ( Phi Sigma Kappa ), and Vernon Hall, 1908 (now Myth and Sword ). The Yale Scientific Magazine was founded at Sheffield in 1894,
936-698: The Division of Science. Engineering teaching and research is now conducted within the School of Engineering & Applied Science . Yale School of Forestry %26 Environmental Studies Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University . It was founded to train foresters , and now trains environmental students through four 2-year degree programs ( Master of Environmental Management , Master of Environmental Science , Master of Forestry , and Master of Forest Science), two accelerated degree programs for graduates of Yale College , and
988-720: The Forestry Club, which every Friday organizes themed "TGIF" ("Thank-God-I'm-a-Forester") happy hours and school parties; the Polar Bear club, which swims monthly in Long Island Sound under the full moon (year-round); Veggie Dinner, which is a weekly vegetarian dinner club; the Loggerrhythms, an a cappella singing group; and the student-run BYO Café in Kroon Hall opened in 2010. A notable YSE tradition
1040-707: The School of Applied Chemistry became part of a newly created Department of Philosophy and the Arts (later, the Yale Graduate School ). Classes and labs were hosted in the Second President's House on Yale's Old Campus until funding and a suitable facility could be found. Norton died in 1852 and was replaced by John Addison Porter . Applied chemistry was followed in 1852 by a professorship of civil engineering ( William Augustus Norton ) establishing
1092-512: The School's first dean and Toumey its second. When the school opened, other places in the United States offered forestry training, but none had a post-graduate program. (Both Pinchot and Graves had gone to Europe to study forestry after graduating from Yale.) In the fall of 1900, the New York State College of Forestry at Cornell had 24 students, Biltmore Forest School 9, and Yale 7. Despite its small size, from its beginnings
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#17327722262841144-559: The Sheffield Scientific School resumed its original function of graduate level instruction in science. Undergraduate courses for the Bachelor of Science degree were transferred to Yale College, and undergraduate courses for a Bachelor of Science in industrial administration were transferred to the School of Engineering. This transition occurred gradually, through the influence of "aggressive, powerful alumni" (including Edwin Oviatt, editor of
1196-500: The United States, granting the first Ph.D. in the United States in 1861 as well as the first engineering Ph.D. to Josiah Willard Gibbs in 1863, and the first geology Ph.D. to William North Rice in 1867. Unlike Yale College students at the time, Sheffield students had "no dorms, no required chapel, no disciplinary marks and no proctors". The Academical Department of Yale ( Ac ) and Sheffield ( Sheff ) became rivals. Loomis Havemeyer , alumnus and registrar at Sheffield, stated: "During
1248-475: The Yale College undergraduate courses needed for the Environmental Studies major. Yale School of the Environment offers 17 joint degrees, three of which are external programs with Pace University School of Law , Vermont Law School , and Tsinghua University, Beijing, China . The school offers classes at Kroon Hall, Sage Hall, Greeley Labs, Marsh Hall , the Environmental Science Center, and
1300-495: The build-up of scientific research after World War II. The topography of present-day Science Hill was primarily formed during the Wisconsinan glaciation . The Laurentide Ice Sheet flattened the soft sandstone of New Haven Harbor but had less effect on its surrounding, hard trap rock formations like East Rock and West Rock . Science Hill is a portion of a sandstone drumlin that was sheltered from glacial erosion by
1352-433: The building. The old Yale Medical School building on the northeast corner of Grove and Prospect Streets was renovated and renamed (South) Sheffield Hall. (It was demolished in 1931 and was on the current site of Sterling Tower, Sheffield Hall and Strathcona Hall (SSS).) Sheffield's building reinforced the division of Hillhouse Avenue into an upper, residential section, and a lower section devoted to education. In 1861,
1404-586: The division caused Yale's science education and research efforts to suffer. By the turn of the 20th century, there were few large, undeveloped tracts of land near Yale's campus. The largest was Sachem's Wood, which a group of Yale alumni purchased from the Hillhouse family in 1905, hoping to give Yale room to expand. Seeking to build new science facilities and bring the Sheffield Scientific School under greater university control and strengthen university science research, Yale raised funds from Olivia Sage to purchase
1456-410: The estate in 1910, renaming it Pierson-Sage Square. It was the largest single acquisition of land since Yale's founding, and the university drew up two early site plans for the property: a Frederick Law Olmsted site plan in 1905, and a university-wide master plan by John Russell Pope in 1919. Neither was fully enacted, but elements of both are evident throughout the present-day site. Shortly after
1508-455: The field. In 2013, Karsten Heeger initiated a transformation of the WNSL accelerator facility into a state-of-the-art facility, research program, and community that is equipped to develop, build and use research instrumentation for experiments across the globe that investigate the invisible universe. The new Wright Lab opened officially in a public opening ceremony on May 16, 2017. At the end of
1560-588: The first student magazine devoted to the sciences. In 1872–73, Sheffield Scientific School's first new building, North Sheffield Hall was built, designed by Josiah Cleaveland Cady , on what had been the gardens of the Town-Sheffield mansion. This was followed by Winchester Hall (1892) and Sheffield Chemical (1894-5, J. Cleaveland Cady). Of these, only the latter, Sheffield Chemical, is still standing, renovated and renamed Arthur K. Watson Hall. Becton Laboratory (designed by Marcel Breuer , 1970) now stands on
1612-445: The houses at 301 Prospect St. and 380 Edwards St. Kroon Hall, the school's main building, is named for the philanthropist Richard Kroon (Yale Class of 1964). The building has 50,000 square feet (5,000 m ) of space. It is "a showcase of the latest developments in green building technology, a healthy and supportive environment for work and study, and a beautiful building that actively connects students, faculty, staff, and visitors with
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1664-565: The land acquisition, a gift was received from brothers Henry and William Sloane for a new physics laboratory. Within the decade, Yale built chemistry, zoology, and botany laboratories, and new buildings for the Forestry School , and Peabody Museum , all in the Gothic Revival style popular at Yale in the early 20th century. The new facilities allowed Yale to demolish its older science buildings on its central campus, including
1716-633: The land of the Crossett Lumber Company in Arkansas . For two decades from 1946 until 1966, the company provided the school a "camp," including cabins and a mess hall, used during spring coursework on forest management and wood products production. Yale students have also used a field camp at the Great Mountain Forest in northwestern Connecticut since 1941. Reflective of the expanding variety of environmental interests,
1768-426: The model for the transition of U.S. higher education from a classical model to one which incorporated both the sciences and the liberal arts. Following World War I , however, its curriculum gradually became completely integrated with Yale College. " The Sheff " ceased to function as a separate entity in 1956. After technological developments in the early nineteenth century, such as the electric telegraph , an interest
1820-704: The museum and the adjacent Kline Geology Laboratory and Environmental Science Center. The museum also hosts permanent and rotating exhibitions for visitors. Two facilities of the Yale University Library are located on Science Hill. The Center for Science & Social Science Information, formerly the Kline Science Library, is housed in the lower levels of Kline Biology Tower, and a geology library resides in Kline Geology Laboratory. The Yale Sustainable Food Project
1872-694: The natural world." The building obtained Platinum Rating under the LEED certification system. It is designed by Hopkins Architects of London with Architect of Record Centerbrook Architects & Planners . Goodfellow Inc from Delson, Quebec, supplied the glulam roof structure for this project. The school owns and manages 10,880 acres (44 km ) of forestland in Connecticut , New Hampshire , and Vermont . The Yale Myers Forest , in Union, Connecticut , donated to Yale in 1930 by alumnus George Hewitt Myers ,
1924-595: The original Peabody Museum and Sloane Physical Laboratory, making room for the residential college system . Meanwhile, the Sachem's Wood mansion, preserved for the Hillhouse family in the purchase agreement, was increasingly surrounded by large laboratory facilities. After the death of the last Hillhouse heir, Yale demolished the mansion in 1942. After World War II , residential overcrowding and an influx of married students prompted Yale to build temporary quonset huts on undeveloped areas of Pierson-Sage Square. The advent of
1976-568: The school became the Sheffield Scientific School in recognition of his generosity devoted to "the promotion of the study of the natural, physical, and mathematical sciences." Sheffield was one of Yale's greatest benefactors and continued to support the school throughout his life, giving a total of about US$ 500,000. Yale also received US$ 591,000 from his will as well as his house, the Sheffield mansion, designed and originally owned by Ithiel Town (demolished in 1957). The school also benefited from
2028-520: The school changed its name to the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in 1972. YSE hosts the bi-annual Yale Environmental Sustainability Summit . The school's 16th and present dean is Ingrid "Indy" Burke , who replaced Sir Peter Crane in October, 2016. The school changed its name to Yale School of the Environment in July 2020 and, within the school, created a distinct Forest School with dedicated faculty and degrees. It also teaches
2080-546: The school influenced American forestry. The first two chiefs of the USFS were Pinchot and Graves; the next three were graduates from the school's first decade. Wilderness and land conservation advocate Aldo Leopold graduated in the class of 1909. In 1915, Yale School of Forestry's second dean, James Toumey, became one of the "charter members", along with William L. Bray of the New York State College of Forestry , by then reestablished at Syracuse University , and Raphael Zon , of
2132-402: The second half of the nineteenth century Yale College and Sheffield Scientific School, separated by only a few streets, were two separate countries on the same planet." The Ac students studied liberal arts and would look down on the practical Sheff students. Sheffield had its own student secret societies (aka final clubs or senior societies, some also known by their Greek letters) including
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2184-596: The site of North Sheffield and Winchester Halls (demolished in 1967). Further expansion brought Kirtland Hall (1902, Kirtland Cutter ), Hammond Laboratory (1904, W. Gedney Beatty), Leet Oliver Hall (1908, Charles C. Haight ), Mason Laboratory (1911, Charles C. Haight) and Dunham Laboratory (1912, Henry Morse; addition 1958, Douglas Orr), all still standing except Hammond which was razed in 2009 to make way for two new residential colleges. The Vanderbilt-Sheffield Dormitories and Towers were built by Charles C. Haight from 1903 to 1906, and Haight's chapter house St. Anthony Hall
2236-463: The site plan. Saarinen's vision contributed modestly to the configuration, while Johnson's buildings gave Science Hill a central courtyard. In 1966, the construction of Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory (WNSL), named for Arthur W. Wright , allowed Yale to house the first emperor Van de Graaff particle accelerator . Once the most powerful accelerator of its type, it was decommissioned in 2011 as other particle research facilities became more useful to
2288-528: The top of Science Hill. Connecticut's largest natural history museum, the Peabody Museum of Natural History , relocated from downtown New Haven to the southeastern corner of Science Hill in 1925. The museum is Yale's main repository of scientific collections, including fossils, minerals, archeological artifacts, and animal specimens. As its collections have grown, they have been shifted among at least five science hill buildings, and are currently housed in
2340-571: The university's curriculum. In 1847, the Sheffield Scientific School was founded as a separate school of Yale, and it began expanding its campus between the university's main campus and Sachem's Wood. Although a corporate entity of the university, the school was socially and administratively separate from the rest of Yale. Yale College students did not attend Sheffield classes, and Sheffield students lived in societies and dormitories separate from Yale College students. Over time,
2392-399: The urging of Yale alumnus Gifford Pinchot , his parents endowed the two-year postgraduate program. At the time Pinchot was serving as Bernhard Fernow 's successor as Chief of the Division of Forestry (predecessor of the U.S. Forest Service , USFS). Pinchot released two foresters from the division to start the school: fellow Yale graduate Henry Solon Graves and James Toumey . Graves became
2444-602: Was built in 1913. Byers Hall, designed by Hiss and Weekes and built in 1903, served as a center for social and religious life. These buildings are now incorporated into Silliman College , and St. Anthony Hall still owns its building, which completes the College and Wall Street corner of the Silliman College Quadrangle. In 2006-7, Silliman underwent a major renovation. Also, in 1913, land in East Lyme
2496-474: Was celebrated in 1947 with the Silliman lectures given by Ernest O. Lawrence , Linus Pauling , W. M. Stanley and George Wells Beadle . The first degree of Bachelor of Science was awarded in 1922 to the graduating class of the Sheffield Scientific School. In 1932, the School of Engineering was reestablished and Sheffield Scientific School engineering classes were transferred to the new school. In 1945,
2548-423: Was finished in 1828 at the present-day site of Kline Biology Tower . Later, the surrounding lots were developed into revivalist mansions, but the large Hillhouse tract remained an undivided estate. Science education at Yale College came in 1802 with the appointment of Benjamin Silliman as professor of chemistry. Although Silliman was given a basement laboratory on Old Brick Row , sciences were marginal within
2600-683: Was fostered in teaching applied science at universities. Harvard established the Lawrence Scientific School in 1846 and Dartmouth began the Chandler Scientific School in 1852. The stage was set at Yale for the transition in education beginning in 1846, when professorships of agricultural chemistry ( John Pitkin Norton ) and practical chemistry ( Benjamin Silliman Jr. ) were established. In 1847,
2652-599: Was published in her volume, Scenes in my Native Land, in 1845. Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut , for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School , it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield , a railroad executive. The school was incorporated in 1871. The Sheffield Scientific School helped establish
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#17327722262842704-724: Was purchased for a field engineering camp (now the Yale Outdoor Education Center). During the 1918-1919 reorganization of the educational structure of Yale University, the three years "select" course at Sheffield Scientific School was eliminated and a four-year course of study for those studying "professional science" and "engineering" was approved, while graduate courses were transferred to the Graduate School, leaving only undergraduate courses taught at Sheffield Scientific School from 1919 to 1945, coexisting with Yale College's science programs. The centennial
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