Gardner Hall
Opened in 1953, Gardner was one of three new buildings built for the School of Business Administration (Carroll and Hanes were the others). The new buildings were designed to match the older buildings directly across Polk Place (Saunders, Manning, and Murphey). It has served as the home for several academic departments. Since the 1970s the Department of Economics has been based in Gardner Hall. The building is named for former North Carolina governor O. Max Gardner. A native of Shelby, he received his undergraduate degree from North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (now North Carolina State University) and attended law school at Carolina. He played football for both schools. Serving as governor from 1928 to 1932, during the Great Depression, he sought several cost-saving measures, including consolidation of the state's three public universities: UNC, North Carolina State College, and the North Carolina College for Women (now UNC-Greensboro). After leaving office, Gardner established a law firm in Washington, D.C., where he was a successful lobbyist and an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Date Established: 1950
Date Range: 1950 – Present