History of the College of Engineering

The College of Engineering has a long and honorable history at the University of Cincinnati. The appointment of a Professor of Civil Engineering in 1874 and the organization of a Department of Engineering, culminated in the establishment of the College of Engineering in 1900.

In 1906, Dean Herman Schneider introduced the first cooperative education (co-op) program in the United States. Co-op places students in practical work settings during their college careers so that they can continually apply the knowledge gained in the classroom to the practice of engineering. Today, the College conducts the nation's largest public mandatory cooperative education program at a public university.

The College has earned an international reputation through superior teaching and aggressive multidisciplinary research. Our 1950 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students are taught by 143 full-time faculty who conduct sponsored research of $21 million annually.

Many faculty members have gained international reputations -- others are winners of prestigious university awards for teaching excellence and national awards for teaching and laboratory development -- and still others are consultants for national and international organizations and hold executive offices in leading professional organizations. All our classes are taught by this highly qualified faculty.

The College recognized its Centennial Anniversary of undergraduate engineering classes in a year-long celebration during 2000-2001.