Vivian Hall
Vivian Hall was built in 1951 as the Agricultural Laboratories building and named in 1958 after Alfred Vivian, former Dean of the College of Agriculture.
Alfred Vivian graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1894, and soon after, he took a job at an experiment station as an assistant to an agricultural chemist. Vivian later said that he had never wanted to teach, but when his supervisor became ill and no replacement lecturer could be found for a 40-lecture course, Vivian stepped up and apparently never looked back.
His move to OSU was just as surprising: An acquaintance had heard that OSU was reorganizing its agricultural chemistry department, and wrote to Columbus about Vivian without telling him. Vivian joined the faculty in 1902 as an assistant professor. In 1907 he was appointed head of the department and was named Dean of the College of Agriculture in 1915. He served as Dean Emeritus after his retirement in 1932.
more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Vivian Hall
