Shaye Phillips, Staff Writer
Walking across the academic quad, students can find all the usual study spots: the library, Olin Hall and Talbot Hall, and the Japanese Garden. Closer to the east side of campus, though, stands a shiny new building filled with top-notch lecture rooms, a new robotics laboratory, and many peaceful study spots overlooking views of the surrounding campus trees.
With its spotless stained glass windows and its modern indoor aesthetics, one would never guess that this building, now renamed Dale and Tina Knobel Hall, goes back quite far in Denison’s history.
Before it was the new Knobel Hall, the Doane Academy Building was a gift from William Howard Doane, a prominent donor for Denison and the past. It originally served as the main building for Doane Academy, a preparatory school that was tied to Denison’s history. According to the university archives, Doane Hall used to be an office building that housed the President, the Registrar, and the Mail and Copy Center.
In 2024, Denison University announced plans to renovate and rename Doane to commemorate a $15 million donation from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to support the construction costs. The building was renamed in honor of President Emeritus Dale Knobel, who worked at the University from 1998 to 2013, and his wife, Tina Knobel. Overall, Denison received over $29 million in funding for the renovation.
This year, the current data analytics and computer science departments have made Knobel their own personal home on the hill. With new study rooms, conference rooms, a data visualization lab, a virtual reality lab, a robotics construction lab, and several other office spaces and classrooms, the new addition to Knobel has been named the Emily Hauser King and Robert E. King Center for Data and Innovation.
“It’s really fun to see it go from bare bones to the finished product; it’s insane how it was finished so quickly for classes,” said Kaiden McCready, a junior data analytics major with a minor in machine learning and artificial intelligence. “There’s a lot of insane technology built into it. It’s one of the first buildings where it feels like there is a TV in every room.”
Knobel Hall is expected to have bookable study spaces and conference rooms that students can sign up for via panels located on the outside of the rooms. Once the booking system is up and running, it will provide useful meeting spaces for class projects, labs, and clubs.
“It’s really nice to have a dedicated space for DA and CS majors, especially for CS because that department used to have classes all over the place. There was even a CS class in [Bryant Arts Center],” said McCready.
Dr. Sarah Supp, the chair and professor for data analytics, also shares her enthusiasm for the new building.
“The extra space we have in classrooms to allow for walking around to provide feedback, to facilitate group/team work, and to provide ample whiteboard space for students to sketch out different ideas is really great,” said Supp. “We are also really enjoying the beautiful views of campus and downtown.”
According to Supp, it is also easier for students to find classes and faculty during office hours. Students are also able to make use of the computational resources provided by the space as well as gathering places for larger groups of students.
“I really believe that DA is for everyone, but I also understand that not everyone immediately feels confidence regarding computers, quantitative learning, and/or technical topics,” said Supp. “I’m really excited that [Knobel Hall] represents an interdisciplinary learning space that can help everyone feel welcome.”