Pritchard Hall, a residence hall in the Prairie Community, is home to 1000 residents. It is the largest all-male residence hall on the East Coast. Construction started in 1965 and a portion of the building opened in the Winter of 1967. The building was completed by the Fall of 1967 and was dedicated on May 13, 1968. Cost of construction was $3,262,240; it contains 201,161 sq. ft.
Pritchard Hall is named for Samuel Reynolds Pritchard. Pritchard, who was born in 1863, joined the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College faculty in 1893 after following President John M. McBryde from the University of South Carolina, where he had also been a faculty member. At VAMC, he served as professor of physics and electrical engineering from 1893 to 1935. He helped to establish the department of electrical engineering and served as dean of engineering from 1918 to 1928. He resigned from the dean's role in 1928 but continued to serve as head of electrical engineering until he died while walking to class. He was credited with building a favorable reputation for the department of electrical engineering, and he helped to impact many early engineering students. It is interesting to note that he was an instructor of Claudius Lee, who followed in Pritchard's footsteps as a professor and head of electrical engineering. The two men worked together on a number of projects. He was one of the most well known laymen of the Baltimore Methodist Conference and was noted for his innate goodness.
Address: Washington Street (Lower Quad) | Map Grid: M-7
Originally Built: PRIT | Abbreviation: 1967