Physical Sciences Center

Physical Sciences Center. . The Physical Sciences Center was designed by architects Dow Gumerson and Donald McCormick, and was constructed in 1969 at the cost of $5.5 million. Originally, the Physical Sciences Center was to include three buildings constructed in phases down Elm Street south to Brooks, where Ellison Hall, Sutton Hall and the library extension now stand. Lack of funding prevented the construction of the additional buildings. The architectural style of the building most closely resembles an industrial style, popularized by the French architect Le Corbusier. A September 1973 issue of the Oklahoma Daily featured a photograph of the building with blender dials and buttons superimposed on the base. The “blender” label has since endured as the Physical Sciences Center's unofficial nickname. , The 12-story building is 182,963 square feet and includes 28 class and lecture rooms, as well as 54 research and class laboratories. It has been home to several different university institutions including the College of Arts and Sciences, the departments of Mathematics, History of Science, Human Relations, and the Women's Studies Program. Also housed within the Physical Sciences Center the Chemistry and Mathematics Library, and the Arts and Sciences computer laboratory. , The College of Arts and Sciences is the university's largest college, and oversees more than 20 different departments and schools and thousands of students, who account for thirty percent of the Norman campus student population in any given year. Its administrative offices were moved to Ellison Hall. , The History of Science Program at the university started in 1949 when an OU alumnus, Everette Lee De Goyler began a series of gifts of books to the university, and the university in turn agreed to the condition that a faculty member be hired to teach the history of science. These events led the University of Oklahoma to become one of the first universities in the nation to offer doctoral degrees in the field and led to the creation of the History of Science Collections, one of the premier collections in the U.S. , The Department of Human Relations was established at the university in 1970 to train professionals in the field of human relations, including the understanding of individual, group and organizational behavior. , The Department of Mathematics at the university has a long and rich academic tradition dating back to the awarding of its first masters degree in 1927, and first doctorate in 1947. The department's research facilities include a mathematics library with extensive journal holdings dating back to the 1880s, as well as state-of-the-art computer facilities. , The University Women's Studies Program is one of the strongest in the South Central region and is the only degree-granting undergraduate program in Women's Studies in the state of Oklahoma. The program was founded in 1976 by the recommendation of the Task Force on the Status of Women, headed by Professor Gwenn Davis. Professor Barbara Hillyer became the program's first director.