The O’Hare Academic Center houses classrooms, state-of-the-art laboratories, faculty offices, the Bazarsky Lecture Hall and Jazzman’s Cafe. Dedicated in 1968, the building is named for Sister Mary James O’Hare, the University’s first academic dean.

Designed by architect E. James Kurtz, the O’Hare Academic Center depicts the geometric functionalism typical of post-World War II architecture. The building combines unadorned plate glass, industrial block and stainless steel in a grid pattern reminiscent of Bauhaus architecture. “The Vision of Pythagoras,” a bronze and stone sculpture created by Rhode Island artist William Paul Haas, sits on the building’s east terrace.