Albert Coates (1896-1989), Gladys Hall Coates (1902-2002) and Coates Building
The university completed the Coates Building in 1939 for the Institute of Government, the creation of law professor Albert Coates, who, with his wife, Gladys Hall Coates, devoted his career to state and local government. After graduating from UNC and the Harvard Law School, Coates returned to the university in 1923 as a professor of law. In 1931, he created the Institute of Government, an extensive training, consulting, and research organization that became part of the university in 1942. Serving North Carolina's six hundred county and municipal governments, the institute's faculty offers programs for a wide array of state and local officials. A graduate of Randolph-Macon Women's College, Gladys Hall Coates worked alongside her husband to make the Institute a success. She also wrote a number of historical studies, some in collaboration with her husband.