Bowdoin College receives chemistry endowment

BRUNSWICK — Research Corp. has awarded Bowdoin College $1.5 million to establish a faculty chair in honor of the late James Stacy Coles and to develop the college’s chemistry program.

Coles was Bowdoin’s president from 1952 to 1967 and was president of Research Corp., a foundation dedicated to advancement of science and technology, from 1968 to 1982. He died last summer at the age of 83.

The gift provides $1 million for the James Stacy Coles Chair of Natural Sciences and $500,000 for the chemistry department development fund.

Coles was a chemist who came to Bowdoin and established new standards for the science programs. He also oversaw one of the largest building programs in the college’s history, which included construction of Morrell Gymnasium, Dayton Arena, Coleman Hall, the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, Wentworth Hall, Chamberlain Hall and Coles Tower.