Departures of note

On October 27, 1895, as fire consumed the Annex building at the University of Virginia, William Holding Echols, a mathematics professor, climbed to the top of the Rotunda dome and hurled 50 pounds of dynamite onto the roofed portico connecting the Annex to the Rotunda. He hoped the blast would sever the link and stop the blaze, but the portico held; the fire then spread more rapidly)Skip conventionally, and the Rotunda was gutted by the flames. Echols survived the attempt, which became a legendary, if unsuccessful, episode in the university's history.

Echols was the son of William Holding Echols, a Major in the Confederate States of America. He earned a Bachelor of Science and a civil engineering degree from the University of Virginia in 1882. After graduation, he served as an engineering professor and later director at the Missouri School of Mines (now Missouri University of Science and Technology). He returned to UVA in 1891 as adjunct professor of mathematics, also teaching mechanical engineering and serving as the building and grounds supervisor.

In later years, Echols authored a text on elementary calculus and remained active in university life, belonging to the secret society Eli Banana. He died of a heart attack in his home on the East Lawn in 1934 and was buried in the university cemetery. His son, Oliver P. Echols, became a prominent military officer during World War II. The Echols Scholars Program, named in his honor, continues to bear his name.