Nursing School Dedicates New Academic Building

As more students answer a higher call to the nursing profession, the Dallas campus of Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON) needed significantly more space for students to strengthen their preparation for successful careers and for faculty to teach and conduct life-changing research.

Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, PhD, joined LHSON students, faculty and staff, Dean Shelley Conroy, Louise Herrington Ornelas, LHSON donors and others to celebrate and dedicate the new facility at 333 N. Washignton Ave in Dallas on Aug. 30.

Formerly the headquarters of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the four-story LHSON building dramatically addressed the nursing school’s need for more classrooms and student service space, more than doubling its previous space by adding 100,000 square feet for high-tech nursing education. Features of the renovated facility include a central atrium for students to congregate and collaborate, active learning classrooms that foster more dynamic group interaction and allow for innovative teaching, an auditorium, chapel for quiet spiritual reflection and a Learning Resource Center. The previous building now focuses exclusively on clinical practice and simulation laboratories for nursing students and faculty.

The LHSON Academic Building is the result of a successful $28 million fundraising project for new space to house the majority of the LHSON’s academic functions. A lead gift from Ornelas and another leading contribution from Drayton and Elizabeth McLane helped propel the project forward.

The LHSON has an enrollment of more than 900 students and a top 50 national ranking by U.S. News & World Report. About 90 percent of Baylor nursing students receive a job offer by the time of graduation.