Friedrich Ernst Giesecke was born in 1869 and graduated from New Braunfels High School at age 13. He then enrolled at Texas A&M College in the Fall of 1883 at age 14. At the age of 17, Giesecke graduated in the Class of 1886 and was the ranking officer in the Corps of Cadets. After graduation, he joined the A&M faculty and two years later was named head of the Mechanical Engineering Department. Later, he helped to set up a Department of Architecture in 1905.

Giesecke designed and/or supervised the construction of Sbisa Dining Hall in 1912, the Academic Building, Chemistry Building, System Administration Building, Cushing Memorial Library, Hart Hal, Walton Hall, and 14 other buildings on campus. In 1927 he returned to A&M to resume his role as College Architect and Dean of the School of Architecture.