Engineering Education: An MU Tradition
A recent exhibition at the MU Student Center explored the history of the College of Engineering at the University of Missouri. The next chapter in our continuing series detailing the history of each college within the university is on display in the Traditions Lounge. Beginnings The Engineering Building ( Savitar , 1912) In 1849, the University of Missouri presented “Surveying, Leveling and Classical Topography,” the first engineering course offered at an educational institution west of the Mississippi River. William Wilson Hudson, chair of the astronomy and natural history department, lead the course. In 1856, Hudson was named to the short-lived position of chair of civil engineering and two students received degrees in engineering. The events of the Civil War made apparent the need for military education and MU responded by establishing the Department of Military Engineering in 1868. Thomas J. Lowry , a graduate of MU, served as the first dean of the