Milestones
1851
Santa Clara College is founded.-
1883
John J. Montgomery, alumnus and professor of physics, flies his glider 600 feet, entering the annals of aeronautics history.
1912
The College of Engineering is established, as is the Law School. Santa Clara College becomes the University of Santa Clara.-
1912
George L. Sullivan is hired as a teacher and head of the Departments of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.
1917
The entire Santa Clara student body is transformed into a cadet corps.-
1918
George L. Sullivan is appointed first Dean of the College of Engineering, serving until 1955.
1920s
Santa Clara engineers become famous for building football rally bonfires.-
1926
The Mission Church burns down. Engineering students erect a scaffold so a recovered bell could toll De Profundis that evening, as it had for over 100 years.
1936
Santa Clara applies for and is granted accreditation for its civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering curricula.-
1941
The War Dept. requests all accredited engineering colleges to provide engineering, science, and management training for people in war industries.
1955
Robert Parden is named the second Dean of Engineering; George Sullivan is named Dean Emeritus.-
1959
The College of Engineering becomes the School of Engineering and the "Early Bird Program" is begun.
1960
A 200 sq. foot computer is installed, ushering in the digital age at Santa Clara.-
1961
Women are admitted into undergrad programs, making Santa Clara the first coed Catholic institution of higher learning in California.
1968
Nancy Streuter Austin '68 becomes the first female student to graduate with a BS from the School of Engineering.-
1970s
Richard Pefley is a pioneer in the exploration of alternative fuels, sparking an interest in energy research that continues today.
1982
Kenneth Haughton is named Dean of Engineering, serving until 1989.-
1980s
After a 30 year effort, The Alameda, which bisected campus, is closed to traffic.
1989
Terry Shoup is named Dean of Engineering, serving until 2002. One of his first actions is to initiate the Summer Engineering Seminar.-
1997
The joint BS/MS degree program is introduced; the Santa Clara Remote Extreme Environment Mechanisms (SCREEM) Lab is created.
2000
Mission Control Center is created with grants from NSF, USAF, NASA, IBM, Lockheed-Martin, SCU, and NOAA.-
2003
Daniel Pitt is named Dean of the School of Engineering.
2007
Godfrey Mungal is named Dean of the School of Engineering.-
2009
SCU takes 3rd Place for the second time in the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Solar Decathlon, ahead of Cornell, Penn State, Rice, Virginia Tech, and other heavyweights.
2011-2012
The School of Engineering celebrates A Century of Engineering Excellence!
