Dillon Hall is the iconic building in the centre of the University of Windsor campus.

Completed in 1927 in Gothic Revival style by architect Albert Lothian, it was originally called the Classroom Building or the Arts Building. In 1957, it was renamed to honour Daniel Dillon, who served as president of Assumption College from 1922 to 1928 and 1931 to 1932.

Dillon was a Roman Catholic priest in the Congregation of St. Basil. He was born on a farm near Burlington, Texas, on Nov. 19, 1889, and moved to Toronto where he studied at St. Michael’s College, earned a B.A. from the University of Toronto, and obtained teacher certification from the Ontario College of Education.

He was ordained a priest in 1917 and took up teaching duties, appointed in 1922 as superior of Assumption College, succeeding in preserving the school despite pressure from the bishop to relocate it to London.

In 1928 Dillon became principal of Catholic Central High School in Detroit before being called back to Assumption College to cope with the financial crisis of the Depression years. The strain of this task brought on a severe heart attack, and in 1932 he returned to Toronto to convalesce.

For the next five years he taught theology there. Subsequent postings included as treasurer of the new Basilian foundation at Aquinas Institute in Rochester, New York, a return to Catholic Central High School in Detroit, and a return to Toronto to teach in St. Basil’s Seminary.

Dillon died in Toronto in December 1948 and is buried there in the Basilian plot of Mount Hope Cemetery.

Today, Dillon Hall houses classrooms as well as the offices of Student Accessibility Services and the Student Success and Leadership Centre.