Julian Francis Abele was a prominent African-American architect, and chief designer in the offices of Horace Trumbauer. He contributed to the design of more than 400 buildings, including the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, Philadelphia's
Central Library, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He was the primary designer of the west campus of Duke University.
Abele's contributions to the Trumbauer firm were great, but the only building for which he claimed authorship during Trumbauer's lifetime was Duke University Chapel. Following Trumbauer's 1938 death, he co-headed the architectural firm and designed additional buildings at Duke, including Allen Administrative Building and Cameron Indoor Stadium.