Thomas B. Symons (1880-1970) was acting president of the university in 1954, four years after his retirement as dean of agriculture and director of the  Agricultural Experiment Station.

During his brief tenure, his major accomplishment was to remodel the Rossborough Inn into a faculty club.

A building on campus, constructed in 1940, was named after Symons in 1954. Symons Hall is home to the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, the Department of Entomology, other parts of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, and several other programs and offices.