WINONA Minn. – The new state-of-the art Aquinas instructional building at Saint Mary’s will be dedicated October 15, the university announced. The Friday ceremony, open to the public, will be at 2 p.m. Father James Burns, Saint Mary’s president, said the Aquinas name for the $17 million structure is appropriate: Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century friar, is the patron saint of learning. The building, he said, innovatively brings together the disciplines of business, science, and psychology. Interdisciplinary efforts now are especially critical, Burns said. The union of these disciplines in one building will allow students to understand the importance of analyzing issues from different perspectives, he said. Aquinas Hall also is housing two campus fixtures — the Adducci Family Makerspace and the Kabara Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.
Earlier: New at SMU: Aquinas science building
Aquinas Hall. Cross-fertilizing the quest for truth for the 21st century.
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Burns: “Our students are going out into a world in which problems can’t always be adequately solved by one discipline. With the confluence of many different disciplines in one building, we hope to prepare them for the collaboration that the world’s challenges will demand of them and their fellow experts.”