MBL Celebrates a Century of the Lillie Building

In the summer of 1925, members of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) community gathered to dedicate a new cornerstone of its Woods Hole campus: the “New Building,” later renamed the Lillie Building, in honor of Frank R. Lillie, a pioneering embryologist, MBL alumnus, and its second director.

The optimism of the moment is captured in the 1925 MBL Annual Report. Lillie, then MBL director, praised the building as "beautiful externally, and thoroughly practical and complete, as well as beautiful in its internal arrangement and appointments." 

A century later, the Lillie Building has endured, serving as a vital part of MBL’s research and education mission.

By the early 20th century, 91�鶹���� had established itself as an international center for biological research and training and attracted leading scientists and students from across the globe. But the original laboratories were no longer sufficient.

Though the Crane Laboratory, dedicated in 1913, marked the first step toward modern infrastructure, within a decade, the demand for space again outpaced capacity. The Lillie Building arose to provide a durable, purpose-built laboratory designed for delicate scientific work.

Made of brick and reinforced concrete, the Lillie Building marked the start of a new foundation of permanence. As the dedication booklet described, it was intended as “a structure of substance, efficiency, and endurance.” Its stability made it ideal for microscopy and imaging — a strength that continues to this day.

“What I love about the Lillie Building is that it’s one of those places at the MBL where people have always come together around discovery — students, faculty, scientists. If these walls could talk, they’d tell a hundred years of stories about breakthroughs, friendships, and the excitement of seeing something new for the very first time. That mix of history, community, and science is what makes this place so special,” said Nipam Patel, director of the Marine Biological Laboratory.

The Beating Heart of Discovery

From the very beginning, the Lillie Building has been a beacon of discovery. Within its walls, generations of scientists explored and expanded the frontiers of cell biology, embryology, physiology, and, later, molecular evolution. Its laboratories enabled pioneering experiments that helped shape the foundations of modern biology.

Many of MBL’s distinguished alumni — including Nobel laureates, National Academy of Sciences members, and Howard Hughes Investigators — trace their formative training to time spent in the Lillie Building.

The building also contains the MBL/WHOI Library, established at MBL in 1889 now a joint library with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Housing collections of books and journals, including a rare book archive, the library gives scholars a space to connect new ideas with centuries of scientific thought.

Science and Community

More than a research hub, the Lillie Building has always been a cultural anchor for Woods Hole. The Cornelia Clapp Auditorium hosts the Friday Evening Lecture Series, one of the longest-running scientific lecture series in the United States, bringing eminent speakers to Cape Cod and connecting local audiences with world-class science.

These lectures embody the MBL ethos of sharing knowledge beyond the laboratory. For generations of students, researchers, and community members, the Lillie Building has been a place where collaborations sparked in hallways, friendships flourished, and science became inseparable from community life.

The Lillie Laboratory Today

Today, the Lillie Laboratory — comprising the Lillie and Crane buildings — remains a research powerhouse:

• The Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution: Exploring the evolution and interaction of genomes of diverse organisms that play significant roles in environmental biology and human health.
• Imaging Facilities: Supporting virtually every MBL program with cutting-edge microscopes and visualization tools.
• Infrastructure Backbone: Providing power and circulating seawater for the Marine Resources Center and adjacent facilities.
• The MBL/WHOI Library: A shared resource supporting MBL, WHOI, and other regional scientific institutions.

A Legacy of Endurance and Inspiration

“As both a scientist and a descendant of Frank Lillie, I feel a deep connection to this
building. The Lillie Building isn’t just part of MBL’s history — it’s part of my family’s story, too. Walking its halls, you can sense the generations of discovery that have happened
here, and it’s inspiring to know that legacy continues to grow,” said Catherine Cramer,
co-founder and co-director of the Woods Hole Institute and a member of the MBL Council.

As we celebrate the building’s centennial, we honor not only its past but its enduring role in shaping the future of science. A century down, and — true to its founding vision — may there be many more to come.