This year marks the 20th anniversary of FAU’s John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter, and today we celebrated with a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new FAU Neuroscience Building. We were joined by a number of friends who played an important role in this campus’ history, including elected officials who tirelessly championed FAU and helped to secure crucial funding to support our growth and success. Other guests included current and former members of FAU’s Board of Trustees, members of campus advisory boards, local business leaders, past and present university leadership, and Jupiter campus students and alumni.
The $35 million, 58,000-square-foot FAU Neuroscience Building will be an applied learning environment where exemplary students can shine, with state-of-the-art laboratory space, as well as instructional space. It will allow for expansion of collaborative research in the STEM areas — especially with our partners Scripps Florida and the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience — as well as increased enrollment of students in the STEM fields. Once the FAU Neuroscience Building is complete, we anticipate a $10 million increase in research funding annually. We’re also building a $17.1 million, 165-bed residential hall to support our growing campus population.
This year also marks the 20th anniversary of FAU’s Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the only university-affiliated, freestanding honors college in the nation. It offers a four-year research-based curriculum in liberal arts and STEM, and every student admitted receives a partial merit-based scholarship – so very few are burdened with a large amount of student loan debt after graduation.
My vision for the future of this campus is to continue creating a thriving research hub right here in Jupiter, that will rival some of the best in the world. We’re already well on our way to building a $100 million research enterprise at FAU, and the Jupiter campus’ groundbreaking programs and unmatched opportunities will continue to be a major contributor to that effort. I am confident that some of the most important neurological discoveries of tomorrow will take place right here in Jupiter, with FAU’s student and faculty researchers leading the charge.
Go Owls!