Biochemistry buildings
The Department of Biochemistry is housed in a complex of three adjacent buildings, Schweitzer Hall, Schlundt Annex and Stephens Hall at the northeast corner of the main MU campus. These buildings are elegant structures faced in white limestone that contain up-to-date laboratory and office facilities.
The Biochemistry Complex is at the north end of a “Life Sciences Corridor” that includes Biological Sciences, Plant Sciences, the Bond Life Sciences Center, Agriculture, Chemistry (which is physically connected to our buildings), Physics and a planned Medical Sciences Building.
Almost all faculty research laboratories are in the Complex or the interdisciplinary Life Sciences Center, three buildings away.
Schweitzer Hall houses the departmental office and provides laboratory space for 14 research groups. Seven of those laboratories were created in 2008 by construction of a $10 million Schweitzer addition that impressively matches the white limestone exterior of the original 1912 building yet contains state-of-the-art research space. Furthermore, the addition contains a purpose-built space for our $2.1 million 800 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, the second of its generation in the U.S. and the only one of its power in Missouri.
Schlundt Annex is connected to the Schweitzer addition by a second-story bridge. It houses seven additional Biochemistry research laboratories. The bridge is sufficiently wide to contain a 500-sq ft departmental lounge and gathering area, with a spectacular view of the beautiful white campus, lined in early 20th century, limestone buildings.
Stephens Hall, built in 1936, underwent extensive renovation in 2001 to create laboratory space for two senior faculty members in this small building. Uniting art and science, Professor and National Academy of Sciences member Linda Randall designed the new space, incorporating privately donated original artwork, custom furnishings, an aquarium, liberal use of natural light and meticulous attention to aesthetic details into every room.
The Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, a campus-wide center that houses six interdisciplinary research clusters, each focused on a common theme, is the location of laboratories for eight Biochemistry faculty and three additional members of our graduate program.
