LeConte Hall, Berkeley
historic place
LeConte Hall, in Berkeley, Alameda County, California, was completed in 1923. Designed by John Galen Howard, it opened in 1924 for the University of California, Berkeley's physics department. At its opening, it was one of the largest physics buildings worldwide. In 1931, Ernest O. Lawrence built the first atom collider here, earning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939. J. Robert Oppenheimer also worked in the building. In 1942, he held discussions about atomic weapon development within its walls. Named for professors Joseph and John LeConte, the name was removed in November 2020 due to the brothers' support of racial inequality. LeConte Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. This site is historically important for its role in groundbreaking physics research.