ECU renames two campus buildings after former chancellors
Former chancellor Steve Ballard, left, and wife Nancy listen on as Gateway Hall is renamed Steve and Nancy Ballard Hall.
East Carolina University renamed two campus buildings in honor of former chancellors Steve Ballard and Richard Eakin during a ceremony Thursday at the Main Campus Student Center.
The Student Recreation Center is now the Richard R. and JoAnn M. Eakin Student Recreation Center, and Gateway Hall is now Steve and Nancy Ballard Hall. Both Ballard’s and Eakin’s namesake buildings are significant to their time at the university, where they served as chancellors for 12 years and 14 years, respectively.
“These strong pillars of ECU’s family left an indelible mark on this campus and its people,” Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson said. “I’ve been at this interim chancellor thing for one year, so I stand in awe of these two leaders. They have certainly earned our gratitude as we celebrate their enduring leadership.”
Ballard became ECU’s sixth chancellor and 10th administrative officer in 2004. As chancellor, he established the School of Dental Medicine and the Honors College, and secured funding for the new Main Campus Student Center and Gateway Hall. Gateway Hall opened in 2015 and is the hub for most of the university’s Living Learning Communities.
Ballard also oversaw the move to the American Athletic Conference as well as SECU (State Employees Credit Union) Partnership East, a $2 million grant to educate teachers in rural communities. Ballard retired as chancellor 2016 but returned to ECU as a professor in the Honors College.
“ECU is a special place. I recognized it when we arrived in 2004,” Ballard said. “It seemed to be a perfect fit for us, and we stayed for 12 years because we had a strong affinity for ECU’s mission.” He thanked his wife, Nancy, who strongly contributed to the administration, he said.
Eakin, ECU’s fourth chancellor and eighth chief administrative officer, was unable to attend the ceremony but said before the event, “My wife and I are absolutely thrilled with this recognition. We have a great deal of love for the East Carolina family and we’re deeply touched by the university returning that love in this most tangible way.”
The Student Recreation Center is now named after ECU’s fourth chancellor, Richard R. Eakin, right, and wife JoAnn. (File photo)
Before coming to ECU, Eakin played a key role in getting a student recreation center at Bowling Green State University. At ECU, he did the same, and the $18 million, 150,000 square-foot facility opened in 1997. Today it features an indoor and outdoor pool, a 12,000 square-foot weight and fitness area, indoor running track, 27-foot climbing wall, six basketball courts, three fitness studios and a new athletic training facility.
“I was really involved with the recreation center from the very beginning. It’s always been very near and dear to my heart,” he said.
Eakin also oversaw a major expansion of Joyner Library and the university’s reclassification as a doctoral degree-granting institution. During his tenure, the student body grew from 5,000 to 18,000 students. He retired as chancellor in 2001 but returned a year later to teach higher education administration in the College of Education. He then served as interim chair of the Department of Mathematics followed by dean of the then-new Honors College. Eakin retired for the third time on June 30, 2013, capping 26 years of service to ECU.
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