To students, faculty, and staff,

Today we are announcing a wonderful $10-million gift from Bowdoin parents Phil Schiller and Kim Gassett-Schiller that will allow us to substantially expand and enrich opportunities for students and faculty studying the ocean and the environment at what will now be called the Schiller Coastal Studies Center, located a dozen miles away from campus on Orr’s Island in Harpswell.

With this generous and visionary support from the Schillers P’17, we will be able to move forward with the construction of a state-of-the-art dry laboratory connected to the center’s existing marine laboratory and a convening center that will have modernized classrooms and housing and dining facilities for students, faculty, and visiting scholars. This will transform the coastal studies property from a place for day-by-day study and research to a center where Bowdoin students and faculty and those from other institutions can gather together for concentrated periods to learn from each other and to advance knowledge and understanding about the ocean, marine science, and the impact of climate change on marine life. Combined with the Roux Center—now under construction at the corner of College Street and Harpswell Road—these projects represent investments approaching $30 million, underscoring Bowdoin’s commitment to this vital area of study and our leadership position on the teaching and study of the environment.

For more information about the Schillers, their gift, and the project itself, I invite you to visit this page on the Bowdoin website.

This is an exciting moment for Bowdoin made possible by Phil and Kim Schiller. I know all of you join me in heartfelt thanks for their tremendous generosity and for their ardent support of our efforts to understand and advance this critical work in marine science and interdisciplinary environmental studies.

Sincerely,

Clayton