Campus Buildings Directory

2095 Constant Ave. 66047-3729

Named for Burton McCollum (1880-1964), a 1903 graduate in electrical engineering who made pioneering discoveries in sound-wave exploration and geophysics, this interdisciplinary research facility was funded by his estate and income from more than 30 patents. Now part of the Higuchi Biosciences Research Area on West Campus, it opened in May 1971 and was expanded in 1973. State Architect James Canole oversaw the project. It houses the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy.

1800 Engel Road 66045-3895

The largest residence hall, which is Y-shaped and houses 900 men and women, opened on Daisy Hill in 1965. It is named for brothers Elmer V. and Burton McCollum, alumni and distinguished scientists who grew up in Lawrence. It is an Honors Programs Residence and houses various Thematic Learning Communities.

Elmer V. McCollum (1879-1967) received a chemistry degree in 1903 and a master’s in 1904; Burton (1880-1964) completed his electrical engineering degree in 1903. Elmer, who received a doctorate from Yale and was a professor of biochemistry at Johns Hopkins, discovered vitamins A and D; Burton became a geophysicist and helped pioneer the use of seismography to drill for oil.

1251 Wescoe Hall Drive 66045-7582

Pronounced: Muh-LOT

Chemistry and physics had been taught at KU since its earliest years, and pharmacy was added in 1885. Surging enrollments after World War II emphasized the mechanical and technological shortcomings of Bailey Chemical Laboratory and Blake Hall, science facilities designed before the turn of the 20th century. Planning began in 1949 for a new building that would house the departments of chemistry and physics and the School of Pharmacy. State Architect Charles Marshall designed a six-story, E-shaped building of native limestone to be built on the southwest slope of the hill. Extensive planning was done to accommodate the wiring, plumbing and ventilation necessary for the various labs and research stations, and the massive structure, which included a science library, cost $3.4 million. At its dedication Nov. 5, 1954, it was named in honor of Deane W. Malott, the dynamic native Kansan and 1921 economics and journalism alumnus who was the eighth chancellor (1939-51). A huge addition designed by Peters, Williams and Kubota of Lawrence was dedicated April 10, 1981; upgrades to mechanical and technological systems continue.

Malott houses the departments of chemistry and of physics and astronomy and its observatory; the School of Pharmacy and its departments of medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology, and pharmacy practice; the Molecular Structures Group of laboratories in mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, protein structures and other specialties; administrative offices; faculty and staff offices; classrooms; specialty laboratories and research facilities; the Animal Care Unit; and support and supply services.

View Photo Library images of Malott Hall

See also: Bailey Hall; Blake Hall; McCollum Laboratories

1465 Jayhawk Blvd. 66045-7614

State Architect John F. Stanton designed the Oread limestone building, which opened in 1909 at the extreme west end of campus and was named for Frank O. Marvin, first dean of engineering (1891-1913), son of third chancellor James Marvin (1874-83) and a noted artist and musician. Engineering and architecture programs were based here and in several other campus buildings; they were consolidated as “new” Fowler Shops and other engineering workshops were built south of Marvin in ensuing decades. Learned Hall (1963) and its subsequent additions completed the process.

In 1913 Goldwyn Goldsmith, who trained under Stanford White at McKim, Mead and White in New York, became first professor and head of the Department of Architecture in the School of Engineering, which was renamed the School of Engineering and Architecture in 1927. After Learned Hall opened, the architecture faculty remained in Marvin, and the School of Architecture and Urban Design was created in 1968; it was renamed Architecture and Urban Planning in 2007. By the mid-1970s new facilities had become imperative, and the decision was made to renovate Marvin. Gould Evans Associates of Lawrence, whose principals, Robert Gould and David Evans, are 1967 architecture alumni, was selected for the to-the-walls, award-winning renovation that cost $2.8 million. It incorporated conference rooms and studios, classrooms, faculty and staff offices, and the dean’s office; some studios, craft shops and jury rooms are in Snow Hall. When the building was rededicated April 17, 1982, it was renamed for both Marvins, father and son.

View Photo Library images of Marvin Hall

See also: Art and Design Building; Marvin Studios; Learned Hall; Stauffer-Flint Hall

1400 Hoch Auditoria Drive 66045-7539

This small, winged building south of Marvin Hall was designed by State Architects Ray Stookley and Charles L. Marshall and built in 1942 by Works Progress Administration and National Youth Administration workers with a technology of rammed earth and concrete bricks developed by engineering Professor W.C. McNown. From the first known as “the Mud Hut,” it was a studio for engineering and fine arts students, and KANU/KFKU radio stations went on-air from studios there in 1952, after which it was known as Broadcasting Hall. The cryogenics laboratory there had two explosions in the summer of 1959, so it was moved to undeveloped West Campus land. After engineering students moved to Learned Hall in 1963, textile weaving and silversmithing retained studio space. KANU finally got a new expanded facility in September 2003, and architectural engineering studios and faculty moved into the building, renamed Marvin Studios.

See also: Baehr Audio-Reader Center; Broadcasting Hall; Sudler Annex; Marvin Hall

Memorial Drive northeast of Spencer Research Library

Pronounced: CARE-uh-lawn, camp-uh-NEE-lee or camp-uh-NEEL

A badly needed fieldhouse was among the proposals for a commemoration to honor members of the university community and alumni who died in World War II. Chancellor Deane Malott and others were determined to build a structure that was purely a memorial and was not designed to fill a need of the university, as had been done after World War I with the stadium and the union. A bell tower, also among the earlier suggestions, was decided on, and a fund drive began as World War II ended. The campanile was dedicated May 27, 1951. Engraved on tablets in the Memorial Room at its base are the names of 277 KU alumni, students, faculty and staff who died in World War II. The ornamental bronze doors are by sculptor-in-residence Bernard “Poco” Frazier.

Designed by architect Homer F. Neville, a student in the 1920s, and Edward B. Delk, it is 120 feet high and built of Kansas limestone. The carillon, played by keyboard-operated hammers, has 53 bells cast by an English foundry established in the 1360s. The bells chime the quarter hours and hours; concerts are performed by the university carillonneur, students and guest artists. A major renovation of the bells, the campanile and the grounds was completed in 1996.

This W-shaped drive runs from West Campus Road east to Mississippi Street behind Snow, Strong and Bailey halls. It was designed to complement the Memorial Campanile, honoring the 277 KU alumni, students, faculty and staff who died in World War II and the more than 7,000 who served.

As World War II ended, the sentiment grew for an enduring memorial. Chancellor Deane Malott, expressing the concerns of the alumni memorial committee and others, wrote: “The stadium was built as a World War I memorial. No one thinks, as he sits in it, about the sacrifices of several score of young men of this institution who lost their lives in that struggle. We have been determined this time that we would have a memorial, and not merely use that as an excuse to fill a need at the university.”

A campanile and carillon and the scenic drive wrapping them combined two of 17 suggestions the committee considered. Hare and Hare Landscape Architects of Kansas City designed the curving drive to follow the crest of Mount Oread above Marvin Grove and Potter Lake.

J.C. Nichols, a 1902 alumnus and developer of the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, was a member of the committee and noted that the drive presented “unlimited opportunity through the years for the placement of desirable memorials, locations for gifts of outdoor objects of art and other items of beautification.” And in fact two war memorials have been added to the drive.

On May 25, 1986, dedication ceremonies were held for the Vietnam War Memorial, the first on-campus commemoration in the nation. It honors 57 students and alumni who died or declared missing. The 65-foot, L-shaped wall of native Kansas limestone, at the west end of Memorial Drive, was created by Doran Abel, an architecture major; Stephan Grabow, professor of architecture and urban design; and Greg Wade, the university’s landscape architect. Student Senate appropriations and donations from students, alumni and veterans paid for the memorial.

The Korean War Memorial, honoring 44 members of the university community who died in that conflict, was dedicated April 16, 2005. The brick and stone terrace overlooks Potter Lake west of the campanile, and its centerpiece is a 7-foot copper sculpture of four entwined cranes by design professor Jon Havener; the cranes, ancient symbols of peace in the Korean culture, represent the four nations in conflict—the United States, China, North Korea and South Korea. The memorial, designed by university architectural services, was funded by donations from alumni and foundations in Korea and the United States.

11th and Maine streets

In 1889 students and faculty members organized the University Athletic Board to oversee competition in football, baseball and tennis with nearby colleges. KU’s games were played on city fields at a park on Massachusetts Street, and the board began trying to raise interest in a university stadium and a gymnasium. After Col. John James McCook, a Harvard-educated New York lawyer, gave the commencement address in 1890 and watched a faculty-student baseball game at the park, he donated $2,500 for a university playing field.

The university bought 12 acres in a gully northwest of the small campus from Charles Robinson, and grading and construction began in spring 1892 on a regulation field running east-west and surrounded by a fence. The first football game at McCook Field was played Oct. 27, 1892, watched by spectators on the sidelines and in an 800-seat grandstand that was gradually expanded to seat about 10,000. A nearby hall was a dressing room for home and visiting teams.

By 1920 the facilities were rundown and inadequate, and Director of Athletics Forrest C. “Phog” Allen toured several other universities to gather ideas for a new facility. This coincided with the desire for a building or other facility to honor the 130 students and faculty members who died in World War I, including Lt. William T. Fitzsimons, an alumnus and doctor who was the first American officer killed in action.

The Million Dollar Drive fund-raising campaign began Nov. 18, 1920, just after KU’s football team—coached by Allen for this one year—came from behind to tie Nebraska 20-20. Invigorated by this amazing feat, students and others donated nearly $225,000 within a few weeks, and plans were made for a stadium, a student union and a statue commemorating “Uncle Jimmy” Green, the longtime law school dean who had died in 1919.

Allen liked the horseshoe-shaped stands, football field and track at Princeton University, and LaForce Bailey, professor of architecture, and Clement C. Williams, professor of civil engineering, designed a similar dual-purpose stadium. On May 10, 1921, about 4,000 male students and faculty tore down the rickety McCook stands and fence, and Chancellor E.H. Lindley broke ground for the new field, which ran north-south. The stadium was dedicated Nov. 11, 1922, before kickoff of the Kansas-Nebraska football game (Nebraska won 28-0). In April 1923, the first Kansas Relays, an invitational track and field event, were held.

Two seating sections were added to the original six in 1925, and in 1927 the “horseshoe” on the north end was closed, covering the site of McCook Field and making the capacity 35,000.

Large spaces underneath the stands were used to house students immediately after World War II and later as art studios. In the 1960s additions to the stands raised the seating capacity to 51,500. In 1969 the track was named for Jim Hershberger, a track star, 1953 alumnus and university donor who is a member of the KU Athletic Hall of Fame. He donated $125,000 to replace the original cinders with an artificial surface. In 1970 artificial turf replaced the original grass field.

In 1997 a two-year, $26 million renovation designed by Glenn Livingood Pezler Architects of Lawrence and HOK Sports of Kansas City, Mo., began. Funded largely by ticket surcharges, it included a new concourse, concession stands and restrooms; permanent light standards; new home locker room; new press box and media facilities; 36 suites; new elevators; and a video board. The stadium capacity now is 50,071.

In February 2006, the athletic department announced that funding had been arranged for a $31-million football facility to be built adjacent to the stadium. It is to be named the Anderson Family Football Complex in recognition of the contribution of Dana and Sue Anderson and their son, Justin, and his wife, Jean. The stadium football field is to be named in honor of Tom Kivisto, a KU basketball star, and his wife, Julie. Both families contributed or pledged $12 million to the project.

View Photo Library images of Memorial Stadium

See also: New Construction: Anderson Family Football Complex

1518 Lilac Lane 66044-3195

In 1936 Elizabeth Miller Watkins donated $75,000 to build a twin immediately south of Watkins Scholarship Hall, which she had financed in 1925. It was named for her brother, Frank C. Miller, a KU student in the 1880s. As she had before, Watkins oversaw the decorating and furnishing of the yellow-brick, colonial-style hall, designed by Thomas Williamson, which opened in 1937 and now houses 49 women. Like Watkins Hall, Miller is partly maintained through a trust she established.

See also: Watkins Scholarship Hall

1520 Summerfield Hall Drive 66045-7605

Construction began in spring 1941 on the Works Progress Administration project and was completed by legislative appropriations after the WPA was disbanded. The building—faced with stones from old Snow Hall, demolished in 1934—was completed Nov. 1, 1943. It houses the military studies departments of military science, aerospace studies, naval science and the ROTC programs affiliated with them; a rifle range and artillery storage; a drill room; classrooms; and offices.

1261 Oread Ave.
North of Kansas Union at 13th Street

Opened in August 2000, it has 818 stalls on several levels and entrances on Mississippi Street and Oread Avenue.

Kansas Geological Survey Complex
1930 Constant Ave. 66047-3726

This building housing the Kansas Geological Survey was designed by Thomas, Johnson, Isley and dedicated Feb. 2, 1973; an addition was done in 1985. It is named for Raymond C. Moore (1892-1974), state geologist, KGS director 1916-54 and a faculty member 1916-62; he was a Summerfield distinguished professor and chair of geology and a leading scholar/editor in invertebrate paleontology.

Hambleton Hall
This 1983 addition to Moore Hall includes an auditorium seating 45 and houses the Publications and Sales Division of the KGS. It is named for William W. Hambleton, alumnus/faculty member, state geologist and KGS director 1970-87.

Parker Hall
This building, attached to Moore Hall, was dedicated March 26, 1968, as a U. S. Geological Survey facility. The Survey moved to other offices in 1989, and Parker now houses KGS offices including Petroleum Research and Geologic Investigation, and the KU Energy Research Center. It is named for Glenn L. Parker, an alumnus and chief hydraulic engineer for Survey 1939-46.

Pronounced: OR-ee-ad

The curving limestone ridge where KU’s main campus was built received this name from Ferdinand Fuller on Aug. 1, 1854. He was in the first contingent of New England Emigrant Aid Society settlers sent by abolitionists to the Kansas Territory to ensure that it joined the Union as a free state. Fuller named the hill after the Oread Institute in his hometown, Worcester, Mass.; in Greek mythology an “oread” is a mountain nymph. An architect, Fuller designed several Lawrence buildings and the first university hall, North College, a three-story stucco structure of brick and stone, 50 feet square. Construction began in 1865 on the original eight-acre campus site, and the university opened Sept. 12, 1866; It had a chancellor, R.W. Oliver; three faculty members; a lecturer in hygiene; and a janitor. All 55 of its first students were enrolled in preparatory classes. After University College—later named Fraser Hall—was completed in 1872, North College was vacant for several years, then used as a state school until 1889, by the School of Law (1889-93) and by the School of Fine Arts (1893-1917). It was demolished in 1919. The parking lot for GSP/Corbin occupies the site; a small monument includes the original threshold.

Elevations at various campus and city locations, compiled from topographical maps:
At Fraser Hall: 1,031 feet
At Lippincott Hall: 1,027 feet
At Strong Hall: 1,025 feet
At 14th and Tennessee streets: 900 feet
At Ninth and Massachusetts streets: 846 feet

See Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center

2030 Becker Drive 66045

Construction began on the $40 million, three-story research center in fall 2004, and it was dedicated March 6, 2006. Housed in its 106,000 square feet are about 200 researchers, faculty, students and staff in engineering, chemistry, biology, geology and other natural sciences who do collaborative research in bioinformatics, drug discovery and nanoscience, among other fields. The triangular building also houses laboratories; workrooms, offices and conference rooms; and research support spaces. The building was financed by bonds issued by the Kansas Development Finance Authority and funded by the KU Center for Research. Cannon Design of St. Louis was the architect, and KU Endowment gave the land.

1530 Naismith Drive 66045-3102

Named for Franklin Murphy, chancellor 1951-60, the yellow-buff brick and crab-orchard limestone building was designed by Brinkman and Hagan of Emporia and dedicated Nov. 10, 1957. It consolidated the studio, rehearsal and performance space, the technical shops and faculty and staff offices for the music, dance and theater departments. These had been scattered across campus, from Old Fraser and Hoch Auditorium to Strong Hall and other buildings, for decades.

Murphy houses the offices of the dean of the School of Fine Arts; the music and dance department of the School of Fine Arts and the Department of Theatre and Film of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; faculty and staff offices; costume and stage shops; rehearsal rooms; teaching studios; a recording studio; and music therapy labs. A $9.8 million addition designed by Horst, Terrill and Karst of Topeka was completed in 2001, the centerpiece of which is the Thomas A. Gorton Music and Dance Library, named for the dean 1950-75. Also in Murphy are the Richard M. Wright Jazz Archives and James Seaver Opera Archive, together making up the KU Archive of Recorded Sound, and the Kansas Center for Music Technology.

See also: Oldfather Studios

Performing spaces
Crafton-Preyer Theatre: Capacity 1,188
Named for Jesse Allen Crafton (1890-1966), founder of the Department of Speech and Drama, and for Carl Adolph Preyer (1863-1947), pianist/composer and faculty member for 56 years. Plays, musicals, opera, concerts

Swarthout Recital Hall: Capacity 335
Named for Donald Swarthout, dean of fine arts 1923-50. Faculty and student solo and chamber-music performances

William Inge Memorial Theatre: Capacity 125 (variable)
Named for playwright William Inge (1913-73), 1935 theatre graduate; “Picnic” (Pulitzer Prize and Drama Critics Circle Award), “Splendor in the Grass” (Academy Award for screenwriting), “Come Back, Little Sheba,” “Bus Stop.” Plays and showcases

Robert F. Baustian Theatre: Capacity 125
Named for the director of orchestra and opera, 1957-66; gift of David and Deborah Holloway; dedicated Dec. 2, 2004. Opera and Musical Theatre Complex has black-box theatre, classrooms, dressing rooms, shop areas.