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College History

Nestled in the foothills of the spectacular Wasatch Mountains, the College of Engineering had its origins in the State School of Mines, established in the 1890s. Dedicated to enhancing Utah's mining industry, it was among the first engineering programs west of the Mississippi River. A strong tradition of educational and technical support for local industry continues to the present day.

The first modern four-year engineering degree at the school was introduced in 1895. Joseph F. Merrill was the first principal and the Merrill Engineering Building was named in his honor. According to University records, Richard Lyman was recruited from Brigham Young Academy to teach the technical engineering curriculum. Lyman organized the first Department of Engineering in 1896.

During the past 100+ years, the College has graduated over 12,000 engineers. Many engineering alumni have gone on to achieve international recognition in industry, manufacturing, research, education, law, medicine and many other professions.

Some of the companies founded by graduates and faculty of the College of Engineering include: TRW, Evans and Sutherland, Silicon Graphics, Netscape, WordPerfect, Sarcos, Opto 22, Novell, Atari, Adobe Systems, and Pixar, to name only a few. Many other graduates hold executive leadership positions in companies and educational institutions around the world.

Today the College has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 undergraduates and 600 graduates with 141 tenure track faculty members and administers research projects totaling nearly 30 million annually.

Download "A History of The College of Engineering 1850 - 2000" by Dietrich K. Gehmlich, Professor Emeritus, in PDF format (8.8 MB).

Deans of the College

Joseph Merrill
Joseph F. Merrill 1897-1928		 Richard Ketchum
Richard B. Ketchum 1928-1939		 Albert Taylor
Albert L. Taylor 1939-1952
Samuel Kistler
Samuel S. Kistler 1952-1965		 Max Williams
Max L. Williams 1965-1973		 Wayne Brown
Wayne S. Brown 1973-1978
Laurence Lattman
Laurence H. Lattman 1978-1983		 Joseph Andrade
Joseph D. Andrade 1983-1987		 David Pershing
David W. Pershing 1987-1998
Gerald Stringfellow
Gerald B. Stringfellow 1998-2003		 Richard Brown
Richard B. Brown 2004-Present