By SHAWN DICKERSON
Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, paid tribute to Carl F. Eyring Tuesday at the rededication of the Carl F. Eyring Science Center.
Prior to offering the dedicatory prayer, President Monson spoke of how Eyring was a great example of a man devoted to both his field and his faith.
Reading from a biography of Eyring, he said, “Carl F. Eyring would be pleased to be known as a successful scientist or a devout religious man as he excelled in each field — he believed in the harmony of the two. (He) told his students … to be a good scientist, a person must also be a good person.”
Eyring taught his students “to search for truth in the laboratory, and that there should be no conflict between truth and religion — God’s laws govern both,” President Monson said.
Following his remarks, President Monson helped to cut a ribbon that set the building’s pendulum again in motion.
Henry B. Eyring, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, also spoke at the rededication and said he hoped that Carl Eyring, Elder Eyring’s great uncle, would serve as an example to all people that would teach in the Science Center.
“(Carl Eyring) felt that the greatest work he did was in the lives of his students,” Elder Eyring said.
President Monson also cited Eyring’s teaching style as an example to all teachers. “The subject was important, but the student was supreme,” he said.
The renovation of the Eyring Science Center came from a need to improve both the safety of the building and its facilites.
According to Irvin Bassett, assistant to the dean for the Eyring Science Center rebuilding project, the building was simply getting old. It didn’t meet seismic codes, and its wiring, plumbing, heating and air conditioning were all posing problems that needed to be resolved.
Bassett said he was first contacted about the project by the dean and department chairman in 1993, and construction on the science center began in August 1995.
The purpose of the building hasn’t changed, he said. “It’s still a classroom and research space for science.”
“The building is now used by the Departments of Geology, Physics and Astronomy, and Food Sciences and Nutrition,” Bassett said. “The old pit-type lecture rooms have been done away with — we have three major lecture rooms and a half-dozen smaller classrooms.”
Bassett also said that one of the Science Center’s new features is a pilot plant for food production research.
Clayton S. Huber, dean of the College of Biology and Agriculture, also spoke at the rededication and drew a parallel between people’s lives and the structural integrity of the renovated Eyring Science Center.
“Our character needs to be structurally sound, free of blemishes and flaws,” he said. “(Our) foundations of faith and devotion need to deep and anchored securely in the gospel of the Master.”
Bill R. Hays, dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, said that the new building would have several purposes.
He said he hoped that students who study in the Eyring Science Center would learn to become competent scienctists and better people; and that faculty members would continue learning and pushing the edge of knowledge in their field.
The most important purpose of the Eyring Science Center, however, would be to teach students that how a person lives his or her life is the most important aspect of life, he said.
Merrill J. Bateman, president of BYU, conducted the rededication ceremonies and said that the original Eyring Science Center fulfilled its intended purpose of serving the campus community for 50 years. The building was originally dedicated in 1950.
“I pray this building will serve the students, faculty and staff that are here for another 50 years,” he said.
