|
Chemical Engineering
is one of nine departments and divisions which comprise the
School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) of the University
of Virginia. The Department offers programs leading to the
Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Master of Science (M.S.), Master
of Engineering (M.E.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees.
Education in engineering
and applied science at the University of Virginia reflects
the strong personal interest in science and the mechanical
arts of its founder, Thomas Jefferson. The earliest curricular
plans for the University included instruction in military
and civil architecture. Engineering courses were first offered
in 1827, eight years after the founding of the University.
The School of
Engineering and Applied Science, established in 1836, is the
oldest engineering school in the U.S. associated with a university.
The program in chemical engineering at the University of Virginia
grew out of a strong commitment to industrial chemistry among
the faculty of the Chemistry Department. A four-year curriculum
leading to the Chemical Engineering degree was established
in 1908, joining the previously established Civil, Mechanical,
and Electrical Engineering programs. Masters degrees in the
several branches of engineering were first authorized for
the 1948-49 session.
Chemical Engineering
offered its first courses for this new graduate program during
1949-50. By the middle of the decade a sufficiently strong
faculty and student base existed to permit establishment of
a Ph.D. program. The first Ph.D. degree in engineering at
the University of Virginia was awarded to a chemical engineering
candidate in 1961. During the next two decades nearly forty
doctorates were awarded. In recent years, the number of students
receiving advance degrees has increased dramatically with
eleven students taking the doctorate in 1999-2000. Today the
Chemical Engineering Department has about fifty graduate students,
eighty percent of whom are pursuing doctoral degrees.
|
