In 1946an act of Congress authorized appropriation of funds for hiring staff and construction of an earthquake-proof three-story building for the fledgling Geophysical Institute. The institute eventually outgrew the original building and the seven-story C. T. Elvey Building was completed in 1970.

A 29.5 foot diameter blue satellite-tracking antenna on top of the building is operated by the institute’s Alaska Satellite Facility for NASA. A weather and gamma radiation monitor also sits atop Elveyand another is in the hills nearby. These instruments gather data for UAFLos Alamos National Laboratory and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Christian T. Elvey was managing director of the Geophysical Institute from 1952-1963 and was the university's first vice president for research and advanced study from 1961-1963.