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History

The West Dunn building originally housed the first African-American student group at NC State. University Graphics was also housed in the West Dunn Building until it moved to Sullivan Drive. The building honors James Leonidas Dunn (1889-1934), a graduate of agriculture in the Class of 1907 who advocated college education for farmers, an unpopular idea at the time.

As a student, Dunn excelled in athletics, especially football and track. In 1918, Dunn became a representative of the E. I. DuPont Powder Company where his expertise grew in the many uses of dynamite for farm operations. In a time before bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment, yet after electrical detonators, Dunn was in demand, since he was best-known for his skill in setting off simultaneous charges of dynamite for the creation of drainage ditches and canals.