History of the Department of Chemical Engineering

The history of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas begins with its founder, Dr. Eugene Paul Schoch, who visualized a professorate with a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise. His initial goal was to aid in the intelligent use of the bountiful natural resources in Texas.

The discovery of oil and natural gas and its use in producing chemicals dominated the profession for many decades and richly blessed the state and the nation. The ups and downs of the industry beginning in the sixties encouraged the addition of faculty with a variety of new technical interests that at the commercial level would require the process and product engineering abilities of chemical engineering graduates.

Our founder’s dreams remain intact. They have only expanded to create new opportunities for graduates while the original focus on the chemical and petroleum industry is not neglected. More than any other industry it led in the application of modern science, process control, process safety, product quality, and the use of research and development to improve processes and products. Many of the techniques originated by that industry are successfully being applied in the microelectronic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, environmental, and consumer product industries.

Both our undergraduates and graduate students now learn process and product engineering in courses that use examples for all industries involving some kind of chemical change, a goal readily accomplished with the diverse areas of expertise represented by the Chemical Engineering faculty at The University of Texas.

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