The Rivers School has announced that its newest academic building, which will open its doors in January 2020, will be named The Revers Center for Science and Visual Arts. The name honors Daniel R. Revers, P’15, the single largest donor in the school’s history as well as the lead donor to FutureMakers: The Campaign for Rivers.

When approached about having his name attached to the new building, Revers initially hesitated. “I’m not a big one for putting my name on things,” he says. Eventually, however, he decided to accept the honor because he believes so strongly in the transformative potential of the new facility to enhance the great work of Rivers’s outstanding faculty. “This gesture, and my gift, are about igniting people to aspire. Rivers can and should aim high as it strives to fulfill its mission to prepare students to be leaders in a world that needs their imagination, intellect, and compassion.”

For his part, Head of School Ned Parsons is thrilled to see Dan Revers’s name on the new center. “Dan really stepped up and showed this community what we can do when we put our minds to it,” says Parsons. “His belief in Rivers and his willingness to declare that belief in such a public, visible fashion are truly an inspiration.”

Revers—who headed the Campus Master Plan Committee and serves as a Rivers trustee— has been a Rivers believer since his son Nick ’15 enrolled as a sophomore. “I was really impressed with the curriculum, staff, and administration,” he says. “It has a really dedicated faculty who are not only great teachers but are great at connecting with students.”

With the opening of the $21 million, 34,000-square-foot Revers Center, teachers will be able to raise the quality of their programs to even greater heights as they utilize its state-of-the-art features to enhance their students’ ability to explore, experiment, create, and collaborate. The facility will house science, technology, and visual arts under one roof—creating new opportunities for interdisciplinary programming and curricular innovation.

Among other things, “The Rev” will give teachers and students access to well-equipped physics, chemistry, and biology laboratories; an advanced guided research lab that can be used to pursue long-term, independent study projects; a digital fabrication lab with a three-room suite comprised of a robotics studio, engineering classroom, and rapid prototyping studio; spacious, brightly lit art studios and workshops specially designed for sculpture, ceramics, photography, painting and printmaking, and computer graphics; and six interdisciplinary classrooms equipped with sophisticated videoconferencing systems. Breakout rooms and common areas will enhance collaboration and create a vibrant atmosphere that will support Rivers’s interactive approach to learning.

While he’s happy to lend his name to the building, Revers is quick to point out that a project of this size requires the combined efforts of an entire community. As a result of this collaboration, he says, the building is even better than he’d dreamed it would be. “That’s what happens,” he says, “when people share a vision and work toward a common purpose.”