Optics Building
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
The Optics Building was constructed in the late 1980s and dedicated in 1992. Representative Tom Bevill of Alabama's 4th congressional district helped secure the funding for this research facility, focusing on optics research.
Images
Optics Building
View of the Optics Building
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Architectural plans were ready in April in 1989 when Dr. Louis Padulo, then President of the University in Alabama in Huntsville, spoke to the Chamber of Commerce to secure funds for construction of the Optics Building and other campus improvement projects. According to Padulo, the university had been given permission to solicitate funds, but did not have sufficient financial backing. When speaking on the topic he put it rather simply, "We don't have the money."[1] His proposition was to raise tuition marginally to support the construction of multiple projects including the Administrative Science Building, the Material Science Building, and the Optics Building. Representative Tom Bevill of the 4th congressional district of Alabama helped UAH secure funding for the building. UAH received a $10,000,000 grant for the construction from the United States Department of Energy.
The building was completed and opened in 1992 with spaces for the College of Engineering, College of Science and Center of Applied Optics. At the dedication ceremony, which hosted multiple UAH officials as well as Representative Bevill, a time capsule was buried near the building, to be opened in 2015.
Today, the Optics building still houses UAH's optics research.
Sources
Sampson, Marian Delaney. "Board of Trustees approves UAH tuition increase." Exponent (Huntsville) June 21st 1989. 1-2.
Sampson, Marian Delaney. "Faculty Senate Meeting May 9." Exponent (Huntsville) May 15th 1991. A-7.
[1] The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Padulo speaks to Chamber of Commerce." Exponent (Huntsville) April 26th 1989. 2.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Bevill Calls UAH Optics Leader for 21st Century." Postscripts (Huntsville) August 24th 1990. 9 ed, 15 sec, 1-2.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Optics Building Dedication on April 24." Exponent (Huntsville) April 22nd 1992. 23 ed, 12 sec.1.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Optics Building, UAH Events. Accessed July 20th 2022. https://www.uah.edu/events/venues/detail/35/1/optics-building.
University of Alabama in Huntsville, “View of the Optics Building.,” The UAH Archives and Special Collections, accessed June 9, 2022, http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/items/show/694.