Milne Hall

Milne Hall, was opened in September 1929, one of three buildings (with Page and Richardson Halls) added to the original Western Avenue (Downtown) Campus. The three new buildings were designed by State Architect Sullivan W. Jones and constructed at a total cost of $825,000. The name Milne Hall was chosen by the College’s Board of Trustees on December 12, 1927 for the then incomplete building. Until 1977, Milne Hall housed the school’s practice teaching high school, the Milne School. It is currently the home of the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, the Department of Political Science, the Department of Public Administration and Policy, and the Center for Policy Studies.

William J. Milne (1843-1914), was president of the New York State Normal College from 1889 until his death in 1914. In 1890 Milne, with the support of Secretary of State Draper, directed the transformation of the New York State Normal School into the State Normal College, a school with the single mission of providing pedagogical training to high school and elementary school teachers, and, after 1905, the subsequent transition of the Normal College into a four year liberal arts college for teachers. Shortly before Milne’s death in 1914, the Regents changed the name of the State Normal College to the New York State College for Teachers, recognition of the full collegiate status the College had attained. The Milne School, the school’s practice junior and senior high school until 1977, was also named in Milne’s honor.