Spencer W. Kimball Tower
Built in 1981
Spencer W. Kimball Tower: Where We Began (1981)
To address overcrowding after the sale of Lower Campus, BYU built the Spencer W. Kimball Tower, a 12-story building designed to house the social sciences, nursing, and Student Life programs.
Spencer W. Kimball Tower: Where We Are Now
Completed in 1981, the Spencer W. Kimball Tower is the tallest building on BYU’s campus, standing 161 feet tall with 12 floors. It remained the tallest structure in Provo until 2018. Architects oriented the building at a 45-degree angle to surrounding structures to reduce the corridor effect, which occurs when wind speeds increase between buildings arranged in straight lines.
The tower is home to both the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences and the College of Nursing. The School of Nursing, which became the College of Nursing in 1958, moved into the tower in 1982. It now offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and has a 100 percent employment rate for its graduates. The College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences, also established in 1981, includes departments such as Economics, History, Political Science, Psychology, and Social Work.
The Kimball Tower also houses the International Cinema, supported by the College of Humanities. This program provides free screenings of international films to support foreign language instruction, with around 164 screenings each semester. Named for Spencer W. Kimball, former President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the building honors his vision of education that blends spiritual and secular learning, a philosophy he described as “education for eternity.”