Tufts celebrates the reopening of Halligan Hall

On October 25, 2024, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) hosted a grand reopening celebration for Halligan Hall. Originally the site of the nation’s first daily broadcast radio station, Halligan Hall has been a cornerstone of Tufts engineering since 1930. The renovation project united electrical and computer engineering research at Tufts and brought most of the department’s research labs into one building.

The dramatic transformation honored the building’s past while bringing it into the future. Changes focused on new and improved teaching resources – like new capstone labs and introductory teaching labs –while also adding collaborative meeting spaces, sustainability upgrades, and refurbished faculty and graduate student offices.

Professor and Department Chair Tom Vandervelde welcomed the greater Tufts community to the ECE department’s newly modernized home. The evening event was widely attended by students, faculty, alumni, staff, and university leadership. Attendees explored the new space, networked over dinner, took tours of the building, and met graduate students who showcased their research projects, allowing alumni and guests to see firsthand the innovation and talent within the ECE department.

President Sunil Kumar, who also holds a faculty appointment in electrical and computer engineering, lauded the changes to Halligan Hall and shared the life-changing effects of a similar building renovation in his own days as a PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Provost and Senior Vice President Caroline Genco and Kyongbum Lee, Karol Family Professor and Dean of the School of Engineering, each joined President Kumar in thanking the Tufts community members who made the project possible, with special praise for ECE faculty, students, and staff who graciously moved to different locations during construction.

“Everyone who will take or teach classes, do research in a lab, meet with clubs, or host events here in Halligan has the power to shape the future of this historic building,” said Lee to the assembled guests. “Looking forward, Halligan Hall is ready for what lies ahead.”

Learn more about the renovation of Halligan Hall and explore photos from the grand reopening celebration.