UCO forensic center to be one of a kind
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UCO forensic center to be one of a kind

By Dawn Marks

Published: June 19, 2008

EDMOND — Construction is expected to begin next month at the University of Central Oklahoma on what officials are calling the only forensic science education lab of its kind in the country.

Officials held a ceremonial ground-breaking Wednesday for the UCO Forensic Science Institute near Second Street and Garland Godfrey Drive.

The institute will be a hub for training law enforcement agents and UCO students.

The institute will partner with the new Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Forensic Science Center across the street.

Construction of the $4 million to $5 million building is expected to be completed by the fall of 2009.

"The criminal and the terrorist are not going away,” Webb said. "That is why we have to bring in the very best of science.”

Institute employees based at UCO already are training law enforcement officers locally, nationally and internationally. They also teach classes at UCO.

Dwight E. Adams, institute director, said university officials have recruited some of the most talented people in the nation for the institute.

"I think that the expertise is not matched anywhere else,” Adams said. "It brings to the students not only the intellectual understanding but some real practical experience that we can share.”

Though students and law enforcement are already benefiting from the institute, the building will provide space for the program to grow, said the institute director.

Now, 150 students are majoring in forensics through the University of Central Oklahoma's chemistry department.

Glen Johnson, higher education chancellor, said Wednesday the institute will benefit UCO students and the state.

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