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STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math
Opening its doors in 2024, the state-of-the-art STEAM complex will be a hub for innovative education, unprecedented interaction and transformational progress on tackling the big problems from diverse perspectives.
The University of St. Thomas prepares principled leaders to advance the common good, and we will be on the leading edge of meeting the rapidly evolving needs of the community and employers.
Many of the jobs our graduates will seek over the next 20 years don’t exist today. But our students’ ability to face the challenges of tomorrow is dependent on how we prepare them today.
The learning that takes place in the Schoenecker Center will infuse creativity, innovation and flexible thinking by eliminating silos between traditionally separate academic departments.
The center will reshape the liberal arts foundation essential to St. Thomas student success, and their future careers.
Spontaneous interaction and collaboration between people are critical to the emergence of creative, practical ideas that work in the real world. We’ve found that for people to work differently, they need a different environment...one that inspires creativity, collaboration and experimentation – what is referred to as collaborative creativity.
These spaces will break down barriers in collaborative learning, helping us to prepare the workforce of the future by encouraging students to wonder, incorporate diverse viewpoints and learn from each other.
With over 130,000 square feet, the five-story facility will house musical performance and rehearsal spaces, an art gallery, engineering high bays, science labs and collaboration galleries. It will also include St. Thomas’ Centers for Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Water Justice, an emerging media newsroom, and robotics labs.
When you walk into the multi-purpose atrium of the Schoenecker Center, you will be transported to a living expression of St. Thomas’ academic mission: a physical space that encourages interaction, not isolation.
Our employer partners continue to report a growing need for graduates with both technical and human literacy. Graduates will have practical experiences while thinking creatively across disciplines in these new spaces.
More diverse sense-making and storytelling will happen when we collectively house ThreeSixty Journalism, Tommie Media and other emerging journalists.
Accessed from the lower level, the two-level instrumental rehearsal space is lower level uniquely designed to be viewed from inside the building up above on the main level and outside from Summit Avenue through large arched windows. It also will include much-needed instrument storage adjacent to the room.
Lab space like this third floor will support growth in the sciences and encourage students from all backgrounds to consider STEM fields.
The much-needed performance space will serve student musicians for practice and performances. The flexible design will allow students and community partners to repurpose the space at any time. Imagine robotics teams in need of a practice space or K-12 educators seeking a lecture hall.
"The future demands workspace, lab space and collaborative space that will bring students together in cross-disciplinary teams. The design will allow a new kind of collaboration among students and faculty and will create a hub of innovation.”
– Julie Sullivan, President
Lead Donors
“Guy believed passionately in the value of a St. Thomas education because of his experiences here as a student. He wanted to see others get the same opportunity that he had as a young man.”
- President Julie Sullivan
Lead Donors
Pierson M. and Florence B. Grieve Terrace
Pierson M. and Florence B. Grieve
Iversen High Bay
Al Iversen
Sarah Rose Instrumental Rehearsal Hall
Kent and Brenda Lynch
John P. Monahan Gallery
John Monahan '73
Henry and Ruth Nachtsheim Chemistry Suite
Stephen '67 and Jami Nachtsheim
The Schoenecker Center will transform the university’s presence along Summit Avenue, where it will adjoin O’Shaughnessy Science Hall. Designed with input from corporate industry partners, the center will foster collaboration among students who otherwise may not have worked together in traditional classroom settings.