William Allen Harper is known as the man who rebuilt Elon College following a devastating fire that could have meant the end of the institution. His vision led to the construction of many of the key buildings still in use at Elon today. Harper was born in Berkeley, Va., in 1880. He graduated from Elon College in 1899, earned a master’s degree in 1905 from Yale University and began teaching Latin and religion at Elon. In 1908 he was elected dean of the college and served in that position until he became Elon’s fourth president in 1911, a position he held for 20 years. Harper saw Elon through World War I, a campus-wide Spanish influenza outbreak in the fall of 1918 and the devastating fire of 1923. After the fire, Harper and the board of trustees embarked on an expansive, long-term building plan for the college. The Mooney Christian Education Building, Alamance Building, the Artelia Roney Duke Science Building, Carlton Library and Whitley Auditorium were all constructed within the five years following the fire.