To: Campus Map

To: Facilities Division

To: Floor Plans

The four-story, brick building with it's prominent Ionic portico overlooking Hillsborough Street was designed for the engineering department and named to honor George Tayloe Winston (1852-1932), the second president of NC State University.

Winston was privately educated during the Civil War and entered UNC-CH at the age of 15. One year later, he was appointed to the Naval Academy of the United States, but resigned shortly afterwards to finish his bachelor's degree in literature at Cornell University. He returned to Chapel Hill to teach Latin and was named UNC's sixth president in 1891 serving five years in that position before becoming president of the growing University of Texas.

Winston returned to North Carolina in 1899 to serve as president of NC State, helping to expand its faculty, student body, income, and equipment. During his office, the School of Textiles was established and work in agriculture was strengthened. Summer courses in teacher training and industrial skills began, and organized athletics developed. Winston received several honorary degrees during his presidency at the three institutions. After a Carnegie Foundation grant for retirement, Winston pursued his literary interests in Asheville where he wrote a biography of his friend, David A. Tompkins ( see Tompkins Hall).