Carl J. Eckhardt Jr. never won a Nobel Prize for his work with light, but he started some great University of Texas at Austin traditions.
With two engineering degrees and a faculty post, Eckhardt became head of the Physical Plant in 1931. That positioned him to supervise construction of the campus’ new landmark — the Main Building Tower.
Eckhardt devised a lighting system to take advantage of its commanding architecture to announce university achievements. When he implemented the orange lighting of the Tower, he demonstrated one of the engineer’s chief contributions to society—applying technology for human purposes.
Eckhardt’s orange lights first flooded the tower in 1937. In 1947, he helped create guidelines for using the orange lights. A number “1” on all sides highlighted by orange lights signals that the university won a national championship.
The full Tower glowing orange alone represents a victory over Texas A&M University, Commencement and other occasions the president deems appropriate. The Tower top bathed in orange symbolizes other victories or a conference title in any intercollegiate sport.
Tower Configurations
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Tower entirely white Standard Tower lighting configuration
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Tower entirely orange
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Orange top with white shaft
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Tower entirely orange
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Darkened Tower with (all other levels dark, including windows)
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Tower orange with special effects (fireworks, numbering)
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