Lights with motion sensors, cushioned classroom chairs on wheels and wireless Internet capability are just a few of the features that make Doris Kelley Christopher Hall, which opened unofficially to members of campus and the community on April 17, a unique addition to the University.

The building, located at 904 W. Nevada St., is still awaiting its official dedication ceremony set for Sept. 14, but the fully functioning facilities inside are starting to take shape.

Doris Kelley Christopher, a 1967 graduate of the University, created the Pampered Chef, Ltd., a company that allows people to sell kitchen utensils to their friends, out of her basement 25 years ago. Dr. Laurie Kramer, professor in the Department of Human and Community Development, said that Christopher first donated money to the University in 2000 to begin the Pampered Chef Family Resiliency Program. This program provides funding for faculty endowments, graduate fellowships and a lecture series providing education to the public about strengthening families.

“She had very fond memories of her time at the University of Illinois, and Bevier Hall in particular, and felt strongly about finding an appropriate way to give back,” said Kramer, director of the program. “And she’s done that in many magnificent ways.”

The success of the program gave cause for Christopher and her husband Jay to increase their gift to the University, with the donation of $10 million for the new building that will house the Pampered Chef Family Resiliency Program, among others.

“One of the reasons that she donated this building was that she wanted all the faculty in human development and family studies to basically be in the same place so we could work more effectively with one another,” Kramer said, explaining the former facilities in Bevier Hall and the Child Development Laboratory were not ideal for the program.

Diane Marlin, coordinator of the Pampered Chef Family Resiliency program, said the building itself cost $8.5 million, with the remaining $1.5 million to be used as an endowment for maintenance that will generate funds that will help maintain specialized areas of the building including the labs, audio/visual equipment and the adjoining family resiliency research home.

“This is going to be a world-class center on family resiliency, and it will be looking at factors that keep families strong and help them meet the challenges of the day,” Marlin said. “It will bring together researchers and members of the community and professionals of the community to collaborate on this.”

The research home, Kramer explained, is a unique facility unequaled on campus. Complete with a living area, dining area, bathroom and closet, the home is wired with seven cameras and microphones to record the research subjects’ interactions.

“We are able to do some studies where families can come in and spend a few hours in the home, and cook dinner together, have a meal together, help kids with homework, address the needs of elders, and we can use this unique facility to learn a lot about how families operate. We can try out some strategies for helping families tackle some of the challenges that they are facing,” Kramer said.