Donaldson Brown

Brown was the chair of Virginia Tech's first alumni fund and was the largest single contributor to Virginia Tech's Continuing Education Center Building Fund. In 1968, the Donaldson Brown Center for Continuing Education was constructed on the Virginia Tech main campus. In 1995, the building became the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, but following the completion of the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center in 2006, the building was once again renamed the Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown. Donaldson Brown Hall currently houses Virginia Tech's graduate school and is a residence hall for approximately 115 graduate and professional students. == Donaldson Brown Center ==

In 1938, after a fire struck his home in New York, F. Donaldson Brown built a Georgian mansion, carriage house, and outbuildings atop a rocky cliff overlooking the Susquehanna River at Port Deposit. The mansion had more than 20 bedrooms, two spiral staircases, and views of the river from a bluff on the Cecil County side of the Susquehanna. It is considered one of Maryland's most visible and iconic homes. The sprawling estate is visible from Interstate 95 off the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge. The Donaldson Brown Center consists of 23.43 acres and includes a 28,384 SF two-story, Georgian mansion constructed in 1938, a 10,456 SF carriage house and a freestanding 3,934 SF greenhouse. It continues to provide visitors with views from atop the cliff, Mt. Ararat (a rock cliff overlooking the Susquehanna River, located between Port Deposit and Perryville, Cecil County, Maryland). In 1965, the manor and surrounding property was donated to the University System of Maryland, and the mansion is administered by the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Currently, the estate is utilized as a historic venue for conferences and weddings. ==References==