Noelle E. Cockett speaks at a ceremony naming the Life Science Building on USU’s Logan campus in her honor. (Photo Credit: USU/Levi Sim)
LOGAN – There are at least a half dozen buildings on the Utah State University campus named for past USU presidents, with the school’s current leader Noelle Cockett joining that list last Thursday, June 15.
Ground was broken for the Life Sciences Building on April 25, 2017. That was four months after Cockett became president. Now, four years after doors opened (Jan. 7, 2019) it is the Noelle E. Cockett Life Sciences Building.
USU Foundation Board Chair Jeannine Bennett announced the naming at a June 15 farewell reception for Dr. Cockett who is retiring, after more than six and a half years as president, to re-join the faculty in a research and teaching capacity.
She has been at USU for 33 years.
The Cockett Building, the newest one on campus, is a 103,000-square-foot structure with teaching and research laboratories, student study spaces, a lecture hall, an outdoor teaching garden and a cafe.
Presidents other than Dr. Cockett with USU buildings in their name include Stan Albrecht (Agricultural Sciences Building), Stan Cazier (Merrill-Cazier Library), Glen Taggart (Student Center), Daryl Chase (Fine Arts Center) and John Widtsoe (Widtsoe Hall).
Cockett’s final day on campus will be August 1, the same day new President Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell’s term begins.