University of Virginia - Corks and Curls Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

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LAWRENCE R. QUARLES Dean of the School of Engineering MERWIN A. MACE THEODORE S. GARNETT, JR. Presiden t Vice-President In Jefferson,s educational plan for the University a prominent place was given to uCivil Architecturef as Civil Engineering was then called, and almost from the beginning engineering courses were taught, although not described as such. Apparently, the first notice of courses in Civil Engineering was given in the catalogue for 1835-36, and the 1836-37 catalogue announced the establishment of the School of Civil Engineering. Interest was slight, however; seventeen students were enrolled in the 1836-37 session. and in 1839 only four graduates received diplomas. By 1850 announcements of engineering courses had disappeared from the catalogue. The establishment of the School of Engineering on an enduring basis came with the appointment in 1865 of Charles S. Venable to the Chair of Mathematics. Such engineering courses as were then oHered had survived from the prewar period and were associated with the School of Mathematics. In 1867 the School of Applied Mathematics was instituted. Actually it was a School of Engineering. but not until 1869 did it become independent of the School of Mathematics. In 1869 the University awarded her first Engineering degrees. four graduates receiving their C.E. in that year. These were the first engineering degrees awarded in the South. In 1875 William M. Thornton was appointed Adjunct Professor of Applied Mathematics, and a few years later he succeeded to the chairmanship of that department. From that time until his retirement in 1932 his was the dominant influence in the life of the School of Engineering. 1 Until its destruction by fire in 1895 the Rotunda Annex was the home of the Engineering School; upon the complqlon of the restoration program in 1898 it moved to the building now known as Cooke Hall. During the years between 1895 and 1898 the School was said to have consisted of one professor, one instructor, and one student. In 1905 Professor Thornton became the first dean, holding that office until 1926. He lived to see the present Engineering building practically completed, and it is most fitting that it bears his name. Within the last eight years graduate programs in Chemical. Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering have been instituted. Having once been the smallest professional school in the University. the School of Engineering recently has become the largest. Present indications are that its growth will continue. SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

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PEABODY HALL