History of the Division of Engineering at Brown
Brown University was founded in 1764 in Warren, Rhode Island. Then known as Rhode Island College, it was the seventh college in America and the third in New England. In 1770, the institution was moved to College Hill in Providence, which is now the historic residential section of the city. In 1804 Nicholas Brown, of the Class of 1786, made a substantial gift to the College, in recognition of which its name was changed to Brown University. Today Brown University is a private, coeducational Ivy League college in which the intellectual development of undergraduate and graduate students is fostered by a dedicated faculty on a traditional New England campus. It consists of the undergraduate college, the Graduate School, and the Medical School.
The undergraduate engineering program at Brown University is the oldest in the Ivy League and the third oldest civilian engineering program in the country, preceded only by Rensselaer (1824) and Union College (1845). The very first two-year course was announced in the catalogue of 1847-48 as an "English and Scientific Course." The first specific engineering course at Brown was established in 1849 in Civil Engineering. Among the first subjects taught in each course were practical mechanics, surveying, navigation, principles of architecture, and the art of construction, including the nature and preparation of the materials used.
In 1916, the separate Departments of Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering were combined into one Division of Engineering with a common core of basic engineering courses. This model has been preserved to this date, enabling great flexibly for faculty and students to engage in interdisciplinary research activities. An innovative change in the curriculum also insured at this time, which survives to this day, significantly increased the emphasis on engineering fundamentals shared by all disciplines, and on non-technical subjects in the arts and humanities. As one of the first modern academic engineering program in the country, Brown's engineering program has played a distinctive role in shaping undergraduate engineering education.
