[1] The school was named for George Perley Phenix (1864–1930), a native of Maine, who was Hampton Institute's fourth principal, and subsequently the first to hold the title of president.

[2][3] It was Phenix who lobbied the Virginia State Board of Education to build a modern facility for the youth of color in the community.

A popular administrator, Dr. Phenix died suddenly in a drowning accident a few months before the new school he had championed opened.

[7] The original building survives as Phenix Hall on the University's campus, and houses several research offices including the Department of Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences,[8] which hosts the data center for NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere mission, the only space mission managed by a historically black university.

Citizens of Hampton, led by members of the Phenix Alumni Association, had run a vigorous public campaign to make sure the heritage of the George P. Phenix name would not die in their city of Hampton, Virginia.