Sitting prominently on the northern side of LSU’s Memorial Tower, Thomas D. Boyd Hall is one of the two Boyd Halls that stand on either side of the tower.
Not only does the building house university resources like the Office of the University Registrar, Human Resources, Academic Affairs and Bursar Operations, but the building also memorializes a distinguished figure in LSU history.
Thomas D. Boyd Hall was one of the earliest buildings on campus. It was constructed in 1924, just one year after the Memorial Tower and 20 years after the Journalism Building, the first building to enter campus. In LSU’s early years, buildings were constructed in the image of the Quadrangle. The broader campus aims to reflect the same atmosphere and aesthetics as seen in the Quad.
LSU’s design guidebook titled “Facility Design Standards & Specifications” serves as instructions for new construction and renovation on campus. The purpose of the text is to respect the Italian Renaissance heritage of the architecture in the Quadrangle and maintain the feel of these distinctive buildings.
Boyd Hall, as required by the text, shares the classic architectural elements of original LSU buildings, featuring arches that reflect the sheltered walkways of the Quad, red Spanish-style clay tile on the roof and stucco exterior walls.
Hundreds of students walk past Boyd Hall on their journeys across campus, yet only a few students or faculty know the history behind Thomas D. Boyd and why he is featured on one of the most prominent buildings on campus. Out of nine asked, only one member of the faculty in Thomas D. Boyd Hall was familiar with Boyd.
“I do know he served as Interim President of LSU between 1886-1887, then he served as President from 1896-1926,” Ryan T. Landry, the assistant and vice provost for policy and administration, said. “He was the brother of earlier LSU President David Boyd.
Thomas D. Boyd was the youngest of nine siblings. Born in Virginia, he moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1868 to attend the Louisiana State Seminary (former title of LSU) following a catastrophic fire that destroyed the original building in Pineville. At the time, his brother, David F. Boyd was serving as the institution’s second-ever superintendent.
“During Thomas Boyd’s presidency, LSU’s present campus in Baton Rouge was established, and several administrative reorganizations took place establishing new academic departments,” Landry said. 
Boyd studied law under a judge in Virginia and worked as a civil engineer before he was offered a position as a mathematics professor at only 19. He stayed with the university during struggling times when no money was being sent from the state and the class size went as low as five cadets.
In 1875 Thomas Boyd was appointed as commandant of cadets where he remained for seven years before transitioning to improving the Louisiana Public School System with his wife Annie Boyd, who has another building on campus named after her.
Thomas Boyd became the president of the Louisiana Normal School in Natchitoches, where he was responsible for the first educational outreach in the state and for allowing women to pursue an education, something that had never been acknowledged by Louisiana educators prior.
In 1896, Boyd took over as LSU’s president from his brother, David Boyd. During his reign, Thomas Boyd expanded the university from what was once a class of five cadets to over 1,500 students. Boyd expanded the academic programs offered at LSU to fields such as engineering, agriculture and the sciences, fulfilling LSU’s land-grant mission to offer practical and technical education alongside the traditional arts and sciences.
Boyd fought for LSU against pushes from Tulane to secure a larger share of state funding, a curriculum that favored the subjects offered at Tulane, and status as the state’s public land-grant university. Paul E Hoffman a former LSU history professor and author of, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1860-1919, A History, adds,
“Between 1906 and 1908, Thomas D. Boyd led LSU’s responses to Tulane’s challenges to its state funding and curriculum, transforming the school from a small college with a vaguely STEM emphasis for its all-male students into the university we know,” Paul E. Hoffman, a former LSU history professor and author of, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1860-1919, A History, writes. “A decade later he played a role in securing the state funding for the land LSU now occupies, completing the institution’s answers to the Tulane challenges of 1906-08.”