College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
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Nuts and Seeds May Help Lower Cholesterol
New Era of Agricultural Reseach Begins with Latham Hall
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| Betty and Bill Latham outside of Latham Hall. |
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| Researchers collaborating in Latham Hall. |
Virginia Tech celebrated the opening of Latham Hall, its new 84,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art agriculture and natural resources research facility with an open house and dedication ceremony in September. Several hundred alumni, faculty members, administrators, governmental officials, and industry stakeholders attended the event.
The $28.5 million facility, located on the Blacksburg campus between Cheatham and Smyth halls, will allow for the expansion of groundbreaking research in agriculture, natural resources, and other life science areas.
“Latham Hall provides our researchers a home to foster multi-disciplinary collaborations and partnerships that will bridge many sectors of science and help to actively engage our faculty to find research-based solutions to today’s problems,” said Charles W. Steger, president of Virginia Tech.
Latham Hall houses research areas that include biodesign, bioprocessing, fisheries and wildlife, geography, forestry, water, infectious diseases, plant pathogen-environment interactions, and soils.
“While providing wonderful co-learning opportunities to students, scientists with complimentary research interests will have the opportunity to share information and foster multidisciplinary programs,” said Sharron Quisenberry, dean of the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “This collaborative interaction will help us to conduct life altering research through bioinformatics, critical technologies, biomedical applications, and biotechnology.”
The building was named and dedicated in honor of William and Elizabeth Latham of Haymarket, Va. The Lathams provided a $5 million gift to the university to establish an endowed fund to support the academic research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
“The Lathams’ gift will provide an enduring contribution to cutting-edge research and education at Virginia Tech, which will help support the needs of production-agriculture industries,” said Quisenberry. “Their endowment will fund equipment and support undergraduate research stipends and graduate student fellowships in our college and ensure state-of-the-art research in Latham Hall through time.”