Department History

Year		Event
1909		Department established; First EE degree conferred
1910		John R. Benton appointed the First Dean of the College
1911		First New Engineering Building completed, later named Benton Hall, on the site of the current Grinter Hall
1914		The Transit Club and the Kelvin Engineering Club consolidate to form the Benton Engineering Society
1928		Graduate programs added to the college of engineering
1919		Steady growth spurs the expansion of Benton Hall—South wing completed, including: woodshop, a forge, and a foundry.
1925		John Vincent Atanasoff received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida, graduating with straight A’s. He would later invent the Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC),the first automatic electronic digital computer.
1927		New Engineering Building completed, now Walker Hall (mathematics)
1932		Colonel Blake R. Van Leer becomes Dean
?? – 1937		Joseph Weil, Dept Chair
1937		Joseph Weil becomes Dean (1937-1963)
1942		Dr. Palmer H. Craig, Acting Chair (4 faculty members in the department)
1945		Dr. Palmer H. Craig, Dept Chair
1946		Dr. Fred H. Pumphrey, Dept Chair
1951		Weil Hall completed
1952		Merwin J. Larsen, Dept Chair
1965		Dr. Wayne Chen, Dept Chair (becomes Dean, 1973)
1967		Benton, Larsen, and Black Halls officially dedicated
1973		Dr. Eugene R. Chenette, Acting Chair
1975		Dr. Eugene R. Chenette, Dept Chair (becomes Asst Dean, 1977
1977		Dr. Donald G. Childers, Acting Dept Chair
1978		Dr. Robert L. Sullivan, Dept Chair
1979		Dr. Blake E. Cherrington, Dept Chair
1982-83		1982–83 Department Directory
1988		Dr. Robert L. Sullivan, Dept Chair
1990		Dr. Martin Uman, Dept Chair
1997		NEB completed
2003		Dr. Mark Law, Dept Chair (became Assoc Dean, 2009)
2009		Dr. John Harris, Interim Chair
2011		Dr. John Harris, Dept Chair