Constructed at the height of WSU's mid-1970s building boom, Wallace Hall began life as the Engineering Laboratory building in Fall of 1976. The $3.75 million building was dedicated on April 27, 1977, as Wallace Hall in honor of Dwane L. Wallace and his wife Velma Lunt Wallace. Dwane Wallace was one of the first aeronautical engineering graduates from the University of Wichita and became an aviation industry giant as president of Wichita-based Cessna Aircraft Co. from 1936 to 1975.

The three-story building houses the College of Engineering's dean's office, the department of aeronautical engineering, classrooms, a machine shop and laboratories.