Designed by Barber and McMurry and built at a cost of $1.9 million, this building is named for Dr. Nathan Washington Dougherty who served as dean of the College of Engineering from 1940 to 1956. Johnson and Galyon of Knoxville was the contractor. It was financed with funds appropriated by the 1959 legislature. Some 25,000 square feet of research space was added to the original plan by an $180,000 National Science Foundation grant.
When built, the facility housed chemical, mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering. The 123,000-square-foot structure is larger than Ayres Hall and Ferris Hall combined. It was completely air-conditioned when built, and its electrical load exceeded that of all other campus buildings on the Hill. It was placed into service for fall 1963. The formal building dedication and naming of the facility was held on June 6, 1964. Governor Frank Clement, as chairman of the board of trustees, presented the building to UT President Andy Holt. Former-Governor Buford Ellington introduced Mr. John Harper, president of ALCOA, who gave the dedicatory address, “More Height to The Hill.” Dean-Emeritus Dougherty was honored at the ceremony and responded to the naming of the building. A portrait of Dougherty, which was to hang in the auditorium of the building, was unveiled.
In 2014 a $2.3 million renovation of the facility was begun to upgrade the fire alarm, sprinklers, and electrical systems, and to provide teaching and research facilities appropriate for current study in engineering disciplines. A project funded by the National Science Foundation provided a series of energy-related research laboratories on the mezzanine and second floors that was completed in fall 2014. A chemical engineering Unit Operations Laboratory that was funded by Eastman Chemical and designed to be a cornerstone of undergraduate instruction in the Department of Chemical Engineering was scheduled for completion a few months later, and by 2016 the entire sixth floor was scheduled for conversion into a set of materials-related instructional laboratories and four research laboratories. Michael Brady Inc. was the architect for the renovations, and the contractor was Wright Contracting.