The School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi was set up in 1900, making it the oldest engineering school in Mississippi
That said, engineering can be found in the first days of university – over 50 years earlier. Since then, the school has grown – with eight departments, a diverse faculty and student body, and alumni excelling in public and private fields.
| 1848 | University of Mississippi, the first public university in the state, opened. It had 80 students and four faculty members, including a civil engineer. |
| 1850 | University of Mississippi given the prime responsibility for undertaking the first State Geological Survey. |
| 1900 | The School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi officially established, including civil and electrical engineering programs. |
| 1929 | Chemical engineering program established. |
| 1946 | Geological engineering established. |
| 1952 | Mechanical engineering program established. |
| 1956 | Jess Woods became the first Rhodes Scholar from the School of Engineering. |
| 1961 | Barbara Kerr Beckmann became the first woman graduate from the school, with a degree in chemical engineering. |
| 1969 | Edgar Lee Caples was the first African American to graduate from the school, earning a degree in electrical engineering. |
| 1972 | Bachelor of Engineering program established. |
| 1973 | Computer science program established. |
| 1983 | Dr. Martha William joined the school as the first African-American professor. |
| 1991 | The University of Mississippi became a founding institution of the Mississippi Space Grant Consortium. |
| 1996 | Steven Hester became the first Goldwater Scholar from the School of Engineering. |
| 2007 | Alumni Bill Parsons named director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. |
| 2008 | The Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence opened, with more than half of its students from the School of Engineering. |
| 2009 | Engineers without Borders student chapter started, with first trip to Togo in 2012. |
| 2017 | Biomedical engineering program established. |
| 2021 | Industry affiliates program launched, with five founding members. |
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