Corcoran Hall was the first building built on the university?s Foggy Bottom Campus and it?s situated on the edge of University Yard, a popular outdoor space for students to gather.

Today, this building houses the physics department. Nuclear physicist George Gamow, who aided in the development of the Big Bang theory, taught and performed research in Corcoran Hall from 1934 to 1956, and the bazooka was developed here during World War II. Connected to Corcoran Hall, Samson Hall houses many of the Physics Department?s faculty offices as well as Theatre and Dance's Production Design program. The building was named for George Whitefield Samson, who served as GW's fifth President from 1859-1871.