BB Tower becomes the Aagaard Tower

The newly named Aagaard Tower, tallest building in the Health Sciences Center, is at the center of this photo taken from the Burke-Gilman Trail. Photo by Gavin Sisk.

The UW Board of Regents gave approval Nov. 20 for naming the Health Sciences Center’s tallest building after the School of Medicine’s second dean.

It now becomes the “Aagaard Tower.”

This section of the Health Sciences Center has been long known as the “BB Tower” because the numbering scheme in the Health Sciences Building gave its rooms addresses beginning with those double letters. The tower, which contains mostly faculty offices and laboratory space for the School of Medicine’s clinical departments, links UW Medical Center to the east and the rest of the Health Sciences Center to the west.

The Aagaard Tower is 17 stories tall, with about 900 rooms and 186,000 sq. ft. of space.

Dr. George Aagaard came to the UW in 1954 to become the second dean of the School of Medicine, a position he held until 1964. When he became dean, the medical school was eight years old, with 53 faculty members and no teaching hospital of its own. His administration was marked by unsurpassed growth in faculty, funding and facilities, including the new University Hospital (now UW Medical Center), which opened in 1959.

After he stepped down as dean, Aagaard returned to teaching, patient care and research. In 1978 he was named the UW’s first Distinguished Professor of Medicine, and he was the founder of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology. He became an emeritus professor in 1985, although he never actually retired and maintained an office in the BB Tower until his death in May of 1997 at the age of 83.

His wife Lorna always shared his devotion to the medical school and was one of the first volunteers when University Hospital opened. On many Friday mornings, she can still be found guiding medical center patients and visitors. She has also been a long-time member of the Health Sciences Guides and for many years worked in her husband’s office.

A formal dedication for the Aagaard Tower is planned early next year. ¶