Awareness projects to launch on York Avenue, FDR

by ZACH VEILLEUX

In a city where high-wattage billboards scream out from Times Square and even local delis tend to plaster their façades with signs, Rockefeller University maintains a surprisingly low profile. Nestled behind an iron gate and thick foliage on the west and cut off from the busy Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive by an imposing stone wall on the east, much of the neighborhood traffic — both pedestrian and vehicular — travels by without knowing we’re here.
“Those are missed opportunities for us to raise awareness about Rockefeller and about science in general to members of the public, whose tax dollars support our work and whose elected officials set scientific policy,” says Joe Bonner, director of communications and public affairs.
This spring, two new projects will help ensure that passers-by know who we are. The first, aimed at the steady stream of pedestrians and cars that pass by the campus on York Avenue, will be an exhibit on the York Avenue fence that features a series of six panels highlighting important scientific discoveries made at Rockefeller during its history. The second project will be the installation of the university’s name in lettering on both sides of the Rockefeller Research Building, over the FDR.
“Both of these projects are ideas that I asked CPA to begin working on shortly after I came to Rockefeller,” says Paul Nurse, the university’s president. “We had learned that many of our neighbors and visitors, as well as the general public, know very little about Rockefeller and I’ve felt for some time that it’s important for us to increase awareness in our neighborhood. But I wanted to take some time to make sure that what we did was in good taste and appropriate for Rockefeller and the neighborhood. This initiative is important for the university not only because it will raise awareness: It could also assist Development in its fundraising mission.”
The fence display project has been in development for more than a year, as designers worked out the details of affixing the panels to the fence and CPA staff worked with Dr. Nurse and members of the Executive Officers Group to select appropriate discoveries and write copy. The initial installation, a pilot project of six double-sided panels mounted perpendicular to the fence on columns just north of the 66th Street gate, will be erected in mid-June.
“The first phase will feature 12 scientific discoveries that represent a range of research spanning the university’s history,” says Alyssa Gelbard, CPA’s director of marketing communications and operations. “The design will be simple and elegant and will not be promotional or advertising-oriented.”
“It is obvious that we cannot represent every important scientific discovery in our small pilot project,” says Dr. Nurse. “However, if the panels prove successful, the plan will be to produce additional cycles of pioneering discoveries — drawing from our 106-year history of achievements.”
On the FDR, the concept is far simpler. Simple metal letters reading “The Rock­efeller University” will be installed on both sides of RRB where the building extends over the highway (see depiction). Clearly visible to motorists traveling in either direction, and lit by rear-mounted LEDs at night, the signs will serve as a reminder to New Yorkers, and visitors, that Rockefeller is an important part of the city. With over 150,000 cars a day traveling the FDR, the signs have the potential to reach millions of people each year.
“This will help to put Rockefeller’s name out there,” Dr. Nurse says. “If drivers begin to understand where Rockefeller is, they will be more likely to retain information about it when they encounter it in other places, such as in a newspaper article, on the Web or on television or the radio.”
The RRB lettering will be in place by early summer.