Thomas Jefferson first came to Williamsburg to attend the College of William and Mary in March 1760. Until April 1762, Jefferson lodged and boarded in the building known today as the Sir Christopher Wren Building. Jefferson remained in Williamsburg to read law for the next five years under George Wythe, the distinguished jurist who was to become the first professor of law at William and Mary in 1779.

In 1774, the rector asked Jefferson to design an addition to the College. Due to the disruption of the Revolutionary War, work on the addition was halted and never resumed. Later, as governor of Virginia and a member of the William and Mary Board of Visitors, Jefferson drafted reforms on the curriculum and governance of the College.

• Jefferson's College: Life at School (1760-62)
• Views on the Sir Christopher Wren Building
• Jefferson's Attempts at Change: Involvement in Reorganization of Curriculum