UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The former Health and Human Development East Building at Penn State University Park, home to the University’s College of Nursing, has been renamed the Nursing Sciences Building, as approved by the University Board of Trustees at their July meeting.

The original Human Development East Building was built in the late 1970s for $5 million as part of the College of Human Development complex. The four-story building housed classrooms, administrative offices and labs for several departments in the college, including the then Department of Nursing. A nursing consultation center provided facilities for independent nursing practices and offered educational programs to the public.

Over the past 35 years, the building has housed facilities for various departments and units within the current College of Health and Human Development (which included Nursing until its establishment as an independent academic unit in 2008). Currently, the College of Nursing occupies the entire building except for the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (housed within the Department of Health Policy and Administration) on the third floor, and the Penn State Infant and Child Temperament Lab (affiliated with the Department of Human Development and Family Studies) on the first floor.

Future plans for the building include expansion and improvements to meet the college’s growing needs, including major interior renovations to provide modern classrooms, laboratories, offices, and spaces for meetings and student support. In addition, upgrades will be made to the entryways, flooring and lighting.