On March 18, 1980, during a devotional assembly, BYU president Dallin H. Oaks announced a decision by the Board of Trustees to construct a new campus management building that would be named in honor of N. Eldon Tanner, a Canadian politician and counselor to four presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[3] Today, the seven-story, 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) granite building houses Marriott School classes, professors' offices and administration.

[4] On December 3, 2018, around 9:00 a.m., a student publicly attempted suicide by jumping from the fourth floor of the Tanner Building atrium.

[6] The suicide attempt initiated campus-wide discussions about the availability of mental health resources on BYU campus.

[7] In response to the suicide, BYU bolstered mental health resources on campus and installed floor-to-ceiling glass walls along the perimeter of the atrium to prevent similar incidents from occurring.