About Pugh Hall
In the heart of the University of Florida, nestled between 98-year-old
Newell and 72-year-old Dauer Halls, there's a new kid on the
block
energizing the historic district of campus. Jim and Alexis Pugh
Hall-with its state-of-the-art teaching auditorium, study nooks,
meeting
areas and unique public gathering spaces-is poised to become
a focal
point of campus activity.
Equipped with the latest technology and features of our time,
the
40,000-square-foot facility honors its stately neighbors in its
exterior
design-blending the modern and traditional in a style that is
all its
own. It should be no surprise, then, to learn the new campus
treasure
was commissioned by one of the state's most prominent building
professionals, Jim Pugh, and his wife Alexis, who has led a
distinguished career marketing multi-family housing.
"We are most impressed with the design," said Mr. Pugh, a 1963 UF building construction alumnus. "It's a new building in the old part of campus with a timeless design, so it fits in nicely among the beautiful old buildings."
In addition to housing the Graham Center, Pugh Hall is also home to the Department of African and Asian Languages and Literatures, which promotes a better understanding of non-Western languages and cultures, and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, which preserves eyewitness accounts of Florida and Southern history.
These three resident programs unite in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' mission of advancing the understanding of our world and our place within it-solving humankind's greatest problems through inquiry and action to create a better society.
African & Asian Languages & Literatures Department
The Department of African and Asian Languages and Literatures was founded in 1982, in recognition of the university’s need to promote and enhance the knowledge of non-Western languages and cultures. It offers a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in East Asian Languages and Literatures and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, as well as minors in Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew and Japanese. Languages taught by the department include Akan, Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Swahili, Vietnamese, Wolof, Xhosa, and Yoruba.
Bob Graham Center for Public Service
Established by former Florida Governor and retired U.S. Senator Bob Graham, the Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida provides students with opportunities to train for future leadership positions, meet current policymakers and take courses in critical thinking, language learning and studies of world cultures. Its mission is to foster public leadership and solve issues related to the Americas and homeland security. The center currently offers a certificate in public leadership, and plans to establish bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in public policy.
Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
With more than 4,000 interviews and thousands of pages of transcripts, the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program is the largest program of its kind in the South and one of the largest in the nation. Founded in 1967 by the late history professor and UF historian Samuel Proctor, the program’s mission is to preserve for future generations eyewitness accounts of the economic, social, political, religious, and intellectual life of Florida and the South. Transcribed interviews are available for use by research scholars, students, journalists, genealogists and the general public.
