Waddel Hall is named after Dr. Moses Waddel. Dr. Waddel was called to be the President of the University of Georgia in 1819 when the university was struggling and at its lowest point. Taking the presidential reigns with only seven students enrolled in the university, Waddell was successful in raising enrollment to over one hundred students. The hall that now bears his name is the second oldest building on the university’s campus. The building was completed in 1821 and has served several different purposes over its many years. The building was once called “Philosophical Hall”. The building has also spent several years as a dormitory for students. Its walls have served as the location of the A&M college, the home of Thomas W. Reed, the location of the Dean Rusk Center for International and Comparative Law, and now currently, it houses the office of Special events.

The Hubert Bond Owens Plaza Fountain was erected for Hubert Bond Owens, who established the University of Georgia’s landscape architecture program and was its only professor for the first nine years. He graduated with a B.S. from the University of Georgia in 1926, with his studies focused on horticulture, landscape gardening, and agriculture. He also earned a Masters in education so that he could teach students about environmental design for over 45 years. In 1969, Hubert Bond Owens was named the first dean of the School of Environmental design. On top of his teaching career, he also designed the Founders Memorial Garden at the University of Georgia.