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Newly Renovated and Renamed Kellogg Hall Opens

When the 300 plus-seat capacity Kellogg Medical Auditorium opened in the early 1960s, its design was rooted in the way medicine had been, and continued to be taught—in a large lecture hall, reminiscent of an old-fashioned operating theater— and that no longer accommodated the needs of today’s modern medical and graduate education. Last year, Geisel embarked upon a project to address Kellogg, and to upgrade and modernize the auditorium.

The newly renovated and tentatively renamed Kellogg Hall, brings another of Geisel School of Medicine’s classrooms into the 21st century.

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The team that brought this extensive project to fruition—Jon Rader, overall construction management; Toni Bacon, who coordinated the interior design; and Christine Maute, who directed the selection and installation of new, high-tech, audio-visual systems—have been tirelessly working for more than a year towards the building’s successful reopening this September.

Working together with Geisel’s medical education department, and the four graduate education  programs to assess new teaching paradigms, changing technological needs, and expanding space requirements, Dave Harris, the director of facilities, says the renovated Kellogg Hall features three, flat-floor “smart” classrooms with flexible teaching spaces, and seating capacities of 100, 50, and 25 persons, respectively. Each classroom can be rearranged into “pods” or lecture-style configurations by simply moving the furniture. This allows for multiple teaching styles.  In addition, Graduate program administrative offices, study rooms, and lounge space are also housed in the building.

The recently renovated Chilcott Auditorium in Vail, along with Auditoriums G and H at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, have remained as auditoria and will continue to accommodate faculty who prefer teaching in that setting.

Harris says their goal was to create a contemporary space that would stand the test of time.

They certainly succeeded.