popular administrator with the students, who was stricken blind at the age of thirteen. Derring served on the State Commission for the Visually Handicapped and served on the Blacksburg Town Council. Durham Hall Durham Hall, a $16 million project, opened in 1998 and was called "New Engineering Building", or "The NEB", until 2001. It was named in honor of Fred D. Durham, co-founder of the Dover Corporation, a Fortune 500 manufacturing company located in New York City. Norris Hall Norris Hall is a four-story (1 floor below grade) Hokie Stone academic building located between Burruss and Holden Halls. The two wings of the building, built in 1960 and 1962, encompass approximately 70,000 gross square feet and house the main office for the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, room 219, and used to house the Dean's Office for the College of Engineering, room 333, The building has been home to the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, room 223, for almost fifty years, and is named for Earl Bertram Norris, who served as dean of engineering for twenty-four years between 1928 and 1952. Norris Hall was also the location of the second shooting attack during the Virginia Tech shootings on April 16, 2007. The building was the site of 31 of the 33 fatalities (including the gunman), and all 17 wounded faculty and students. The building was closed for the rest of the 2007 spring semester, and reopened with access limited to faculty and students with legitimate business inside at remaining offices and laboratories on June 18, 2007. On December 20, 2007, it was announced that the second floor of Norris would be renovated and become home to the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. On April 10, 2009, a ceremony was held to commemorate the reopening of the west wing of Norris Hall. The area consists of six reconfigured rooms and laboratories and is home to the new Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention as well as the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics. The renovation project was completed in March 2009 at a cost of approximately one million dollars; many goods and services were donated by individuals and contractors in support of the project. As department head of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Dr. Ishwar Puri played a leading role in the reoccupation of Norris Hall where his department is housed. Among other roles, he spoke at