Chronology
- 1882
- Cornerstone of Old Main Building laid and Ashbel Smith treated the crowd to a 2½ hour speech
- 1883
- UT opens for classes
- 1885
- Orange and white ribbons make their first appearance at a UT baseball game
- The Texas Ex-Students' Association organized
- 1888
- T.U. Taylor begins teaching engineering at UT
- First engineering degree awarded - William H. P. Hunnicut, B.S.C.E. 1888
- State Capitol Building, the largest in the nation, dedicated
- 1894
- The Department of Engineering established
- The Cactus Yearbook first published
- 1900
- The University's student newspaper, The Texan, first published
- 1903
- The engineering department faculty Civil Engineering Department established
- Mining Engineering Department established (ended in 1913)
- Electrical Engineering Department established
- "Eyes of Texas" written and performed
- 1904
- Old Engineering Building completed (now the Dorothy Gebauer Building)
- Varsity teams referred to as "Longhorns"
- 1905
- T.U. Taylor's grading mark called a "Ramshorn"
- Architecture Department established
- 1906
- T.U. Taylor becomes dean
- 1908
- Engineers discover a statue at Jacoby's Beer Garden and Alexander Frederick Claire (Alec) is born
- 1910
- Engineers Loan Fund created by Dean Taylor
- 1911
- Department of Drawing established (ended in 1968)
- UT's first library building (now Battle Hall) completed
- 1913
- Students work on a steam turbo-generator test unit.
- 1914
- Mechanical Engineering Department established
- 1915
- Division (later called Bureau) of Engineering Research created
- 1916
- Tau Beta Pi, first engineering honor society in Texas, chartered
- 1917
- Chemical Engineering Department established
- First woman engineering student graduates-Alma C. Giesecke, B.S., Arch. 1917
- 1919
- Engineering student body exceeds 500
- 1921
- First M.S. degree awarded-J. Guiton Morgan, C.E. 1921
- 1923
- The Santa Rita oil well blows in
- Dean T.U. Taylor delivers eulogy for Pig Bellmont, UT's first bulldog mascot, run over by a Model T
- 1924
- Miriam A. "Ma" Ferguson elected first woman governor of Texas
- 1926
- Engineering operating budget tops $100,000
- Dirty Martin's Place opens
- 1929
- William H.P. Hunnicut, the first engineering graduate, with Dean T.U. Taylor and Robert Lee Lowry Jr., B.S. C.E., the one-thousandth engineering graduate
- 1930
- Petroleum Engineering Department established
- The first University Round-Up occurs (a homecoming for alumni)
- 1931
- Carl J. Eckhardt Jr., B.S. M.E. 1925, M.S. M.E. 1930, begins supervision of UT Tower construction
- Engineering student body exceeds 1,000
- 1933
- The College of Engineering moves into Taylor Hall
- 1935
- First Ph.D. degree awarded -Frank Van Lue Patten, Ch.E. 1935
- Plan II honors program begins
- 1936
- Willis R. Woolrich becomes the second dean
- 1937
- T.U. Taylor becomes the first registered engineer in Texas
- New Main Building dedicated
- 1938
- UT graduate Leah Moncure, B.S. C.E. 1937 becomes the first woman to register as a professional engineer in Texas
- 1941
- First Chemical Engineering Building- E. P. Schoch Lab-completed (no longer in engineering)
- First Petroleum Engineering building completed (no longer in engineering)
- 1942
- Aerospace Engineering Department established (originally called Aeronautical Engineering)
- 1945
- Ceramic Engineering Department established (ended in 1959)
- 1947
- Placement Center created (now called the Engineering Career Assistance Center)
- Engineering Mechanics Department established (merged with Aerospace in 1968)
- Architectural Engineering Department established (merged with Civil in 1969)
- First woman faculty member hired - Edith Clarke, Electrical Engineering
- 1948
- Byron E. Short, B.S. M.E. 1926, M.S. M.E. 1930 becomes acting dean for two years while Dean Woolrich serves as science attache to the United States Embassy in London
- 1949
- Engineering Operating Budget goes over $1 million
- 1951
-
School of Architecture becomes autonomous and architecture degrees no longer awarded by College of Engineering
- 1952
-
"Operation Gopher" begins - engineering students dig out basement of Taylor Hall to create the "Taylor T Room"
- 1955
- "Hook 'em Horns" sign introduced to campus
- Engineering Foundation established
- 1957
-
First Distinguished Graduate honored-Julian C. Montgomery B.S. C.E. 1912
- 1958
-
William W. Hagerty becomes dean
- 1959
-
W. R. Woolrich Hall completed
- 1963
-
John J. McKetta, Jr. becomes dean
- Engineering Science Building completed
- 1964
-
Ervin S. Perry, M.S. C.E. 1961, Ph.D. C.E. 1964, becomes first African-American faculty member at The University
- 1965
-
First endowed professorship established by Henry J. Beckman
- 1966
-
Engineering Operating Budget tops $5 million
- 1967
-
Engineering Cooperative Education Program established
- 1969
-
Astroturf installed on football field
- Beauford H. Jester Center opens as one of the largest dorms in the world
- 1970
-
Earnest F. Gloyna , M.S. C.E. 1949, becomes dean
- Equal Opportunity in Engineering Program created
- 1973
-
First endowed scholarship established in honor of Neena M. Woolrich
- 1974
-
Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Hall completed
Friends of Alec established
- 1975
-
Engineering Research Expenditures exceeds $5 million
- 1979
- First endowed classroom/laboratory established by Z.D. Bonner, B.S. Ch.E. 1941
- First endowed chair established by the Cockrell Foundation-Earnest and Virginia Cockrell Chair in Engineering
- Engineering student body exceeds 5,000
- 1981
-
Robert L. Crippen, B.S. As.E. 1960, pilots the first space shuttle
- 1983
- Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. (MCC), a research consortium, decides to locate its research center in Austin spawning a new era in UT engineering programs in micro-electronics and computers
- Engineering Teaching Center 2 completed
- 1985
-
Engineering research expenditures exceed $25 million
- New Chemical and Petroleum Engineering building dedicated
- 1986
-
Herbert H. Woodson becomes dean
- 1989
-
Engineering research expenditures exceed $50 million
- 1992
-
Women in Engineering Program created
- 1994
-
UT graduate Jean M. Flynn, B.S. As.E. 1990, becomes the first woman fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force
- 1996
-
Ben G. Streetman, B.S. E.E. 1961, M.S. E.E. 1963, Ph.D. E.E. 1966 becomes dean
- 2001
- Proposed first satellite launch by UT, managed by Center for Space Research
- Biomedical Engineering Department established
- Engineering annual research expenditures exceed $100 million
- 2002
-
Friends of Alec begins the student "Alec Building" contest
-
College ranks 10th in US News & World Report
-
Work on the new T-Room beings in ETC II (home of the Mechanical Engineering
Department)
- 2003
-
Centennial anniversary celebrated by both the Civil and Electrical Engineering
Departments
-
Friends of Alec annual giving program reaches $1 million in alumni giving
- 2005
-
Civil Engineering Department renamed to Civil, Architectural and Environmental
Engineering
- 2007
-
College of Engineering renamed "Cockrell School of Engineering"
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