The 1876 Constitution of Texas provided for the establishment of a state university. It was not until 1881, however, that an election was held to determine the location of this public institution. The cornerstone for the first University building was laid on November 17, 1882 on College Hill in Austin, Texas and the first classes were held the following fall in the unfinished west wing of the new building. The “Old Main” Building, demolished in 1933, was only the first in a long succession of building campaigns that have continued to this day.

The University hired architects as needed to design individual buildings in a variety of eclectic styles from 1882 through the turn of the century. Included among these architects were James O'Connor; Coughlin and Ayres; Cass Gilbert; and Frederick Mann. Cass Gilbert, however, was the first architect to receive the title of “University Architect,” serving from 1910 until his dismissal in 1922. Under pressure to hire a Texas architect, the University appointed the Dallas firm of Herbert M. Greene as university architect in 1922 with a ten year contract, but in 1923 named James M. White as “University Consulting Architect” to develop a comprehensive master development plan for future construction on the campus. Shortly thereafter, Robert Leon White, a professor in the School of Architecture, was named as the University's “Supervising Architect” in 1924.

The University operated under this team approach with one or more consulting architects and a staff supervising architect until 1968. Subsequent consulting architects included Harbeson, Hough Livingston and Larson of Philadelphia; Mark Lemmon of Dallas; Page, Southerland and Page of Austin; and Jessen, Jessen, Millhouse and Greeven of Austin. Since the late 1960s, the University has hired individual architects for the design of campus buildings with the work coordinated through the Facilities Planning and Construction Division of the University of Texas System Office.

Robert Leon White (1898-1964) was born near Cooper, Texas and graduated as valedictorian from Cooper High School in 1916 before attending the North Texas State Normal School during the summer of 1917. In 1918, he entered the University of Texas and completed his Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 1921 after serving in the infantry during World War I. He subsequently worked for several architectural firms in San Antonio, including Ralph Cameron and Phelps and DeWees before returning to the University of Texas for a masters degree in 1923. His thesis, completed in 1930, was a study of the Mission San Joseph de San Miguel de Aguago.(known as Mission San Jose). He married Viola Baker of Austin in 1922.

While attending graduate school at The University of Texas, he also served as instructor and adjunct professor. In 1924, he was appointed to the newly created post of “supervising architect” for the University wherein he coordinated the University's largest building campaign during the 1930s. Among the many buildings erected at this time were the Main Building, Goldsmith Hall, Home Economics, the Texas Union, and Hogg Auditorium. He served as supervising architect for the University until 1958.

In addition to his work for the University, White was responsible for the design of other important structures in Texas including the Central Christian Church in Austin (1928); the Masonic Grand Lodge Temple in Waco (1948); and numerous structures for the John Sealy Hospital in Galveston (1928-1937). Robert Leon White died on July 28, 1964.