Ruth Wattis Mitchell Earth Sciences Building - Stanford University - Palo Alto, CA - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com

About the Place:
Architects followed the Spencer design, constructing the building with concrete and glass along with the classic cardinal red tile roof.

Branner’s collection of geological texts set the foundation for the establishment of The Branner Earth Science Library, which lies in the second floor of the Mitchell Earth Sciences Building. The Branner Library now holds roughly 125,000 volumes and 270,000 sheet maps.

The Mitchell Earth Sciences Building also flaunts a collection of precious gems, rocks, and minerals behind a glass display. On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck and unfortunately damaged some of the gems. Now the displays have been seismically retrofitted to prevent the collection from being damaged if another earthquake were to strike Stanford. ~source

About the Person:

The Ruth Wattis Mitchell Earth Sciences Building was named after Ruth Wattis Mitchell, dedicated on November 19 of the year 1970. Ruth Wattis Mitchell was a sculptress and also a generous donor to the university.

Her Father, Edmund Orson Wattis and his brothers founded the Utah Construction Company and built the feather route between Oakland and Salt Lake City. Later on, the Wattis brothers spearheaded the formation of Six Companies to build Hoover Dam. In honor of her father and mother, Martha Ann Bybee, Ruthis donated $1,026,000 to Stanford, also in support of her passion for Earth Sciences. Ruth Wattis Mitchell once said, “Life has been good to me, and Stanford has been good to my family.” Her husband and 4 nephews and nieces attended the university. Ruth died just days after the groundbreaking ceremony of the building that holds her name. ~source

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