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Florida Institute of Technology’s infrastructure has grown dramatically over the past 50 years and every generation has witnessed a bricks and mortar renaissance. But the central mission of the university, educating the next generation of scientists and engineers and engaging in life-changing research, has remained unchanged. Each college has followed this mission since its founding. These are the stories of what has changed, and what has remained the same, over the decades.
Founded: Originating as the Aerospace Technical Institute (ATI), the college was founded in 1967 to train and educate individuals in aviation business and electronic technology.
First Dean: Jerry Lauderbaugh, recruited to begin and lead Florida Tech’s Aerospace Technical Institute, worked from an office in the basement of Grissom Hall. He oversaw the college’s acquisition of Campbell Aviation, which began the university’s flight school with headquarters at Melbourne Airport.
A lot has changed in 40 years: Enrollment grew rapidly. The university leased space in local motels to house students and, in 1969, purchased an Indialantic hotel to serve as a residence hall. In 1972 ATI became the School of Aeronautics and, in 1974, the university purchased the Southgate Apartment complex on Babcock Street for a School of Aeronautics business office and student housing. A 1990 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration helped fund the Skurla Airways Sciences Building to house classrooms, laboratories and offices. Now called the Skurla Building, it’s still in use today. To be completed by late 2008, the Emil Buehler Center for Aviation Training and Research is located on eight acres at Melbourne International Airport. It will become the university’s flight training center and site of its fixed-base operation as well as housing research centers in human factors and simulation research.
Some things remain the same: The college continues to attract students from all over the world, with a 2007–2008 enrollment of 355 students. Students are attracted to seven bachelor’s degree programs, some with flight training; and master’s degrees in human factors, airport development and management, and applied aviation safety.
Founded: Beginning as Brevard Engineering College’s management program in the 1960s, the program became part of the School of Management and Humanities in 1980. Management school members moved into a new building in 1982, where they remain today.
First Dean: Jim Stoms was dean, 1980–1988, and Roger Manley succeeded him, 1988–1990. Stoms and Joan Bixby were the organizers of the management program in the 1960s.
A lot has changed in 40 years: Growing from just a program, the College of Business today offers bachelor’s degrees in accounting, business administration, business and environmental studies, eCommerce technology, information management and international business as well as a master’s in business administration (M.B.A.) and E.M.B.A. (executive).
Some things remain the same: The college’s mission continues to be to develop and expand a student’s skills and capabilities in preparation for successful leadership in today’s dynamic business environment. Access to high-tech programs on campus as well as proximity to the space industry’s top innovative firms create an atmosphere of dynamic change and adaptation important in the world’s rapidly changing economy.
“We pride ourselves on small class sizes, international flavor and a hands-on experience. Classes may be as small as five students and average less than 20. Our current undergraduate enrollment is composed of up to 30 percent international students, which provides for a rich classroom discussion involving today’s global business environment. And, for a hands-on education, all students are required to take an academically based internship, which involves working in a local company during their senior year.”—Robert E. Niebuhr, Ph.D., dean, College of Business
Founded: Formation of the college coincided with the first classes offered by Brevard Engineering College on Sept. 22, 1958.
First Dean: The first dean of Brevard Engineering College was Harold Dibble.
“Reflective of our roots, aerospace engineering continues to be our largest program in the college. Our other large programs of mechanical, computer, electrical and ocean engineering as well as computer science continue to grow every year. Our smaller programs of civil and chemical engineering are currently growing at a rate even faster than our larger programs.” —Thomas D. Waite, Ph.D., dean, College of Engineering
A lot has changed in 50 years: “Harry Weber helped me start a microwave laboratory. Of course, we didn’t have room for it inside our building, so we put it together outside on tables in the parking lot. This was fine, until Dr. Keuper came by during a lab session. The lab quickly went back into an extremely crowded building.” —The late Professor Walter Nunn, reminiscing in a 2003 interview on the primitive conditions at the college in the late 1960s. Nunn joined Florida Tech in 1969 and taught at the university for more than three decades. A scholarship in electrical engineering is named in his honor.
Today, the college is headquartered in the F.W. Olin Engineering Complex, and more square footage is on the way with the upcoming construction of the Harris Center for Science and Engineering.
Some things remain the same: The college remains the largest at the university, with more than 1,800 students on the Melbourne campus. As in the days when laboratories were moved outdoors, much of the learning in the college is done by doing, not listening to lectures. Engineering capstone projects, largely the province of seniors at most universities, are undertaken at Florida Tech by freshmen and sophomores. These projects culminate in a showcase every spring in the Clemente Center, with more than 100 group efforts on display.
Founded: The School of Psychology was founded in 1980. The department of humanities and communication was also established on campus that year.
First Dean: The first dean of the School of Psychology was Charles Corman.
“The College of Psychology and Liberal Arts has, for nearly three decades, brought the human touch to the high technology at Florida Institute of Technology. The college’s emphasis on preparing scholars and practitioners to enhance the human condition and on conducting applied research on complex challenges of human behavior has brought it national recognition and top faculty and students from all over the globe.” —Mary Beth Kenkel, Ph.D., dean, College of Psychology and Liberal Arts
A lot has changed over the years: “I think we added a different way of viewing the world from what was here previously,” Professor Bill Gabrenya told Florida Tech TODAY during the college’s 20th anniversary celebration. “Not only our students, but also our faculty have a different way of looking at things than most Florida Tech faculty.”
The college has added degree programs over the years, complementing the core doctor of psychology (Psy.D.) program with master’s and doctoral degree programs in industrial/organizational psychology and a master’s degree program in applied behavior analysis. In recent years the college has built a national reputation in autism treatment and research and broke ground on the Scott Center for Autism Treatment last spring.
The college expanded in 2007 with the addition of the department of humanities and communication.
Some things remain the same: The Psy.D. program remains one of the nation’s finest and has produced top psychologists who have made a difference in the field.
Founded: Creation of the College of Science in the first of its many forms coincided with the first classes offered by Brevard Engineering College on Sept. 22, 1958.
First Dean and Current Dean: The first dean of Brevard Engineering College (BEC) was Harold Dibble, an RCA scientist and a close friend of university founder, Jerry Keuper. The current dean (since 1989) is Gordon L. Nelson, a Yale graduate in chemistry (1970), a GE scientist and the former president of the American Chemical Society.
The College of Science shares the vision of Florida Institute of Technology to be one of the nation’s best private research universities. Our outstanding, discipline-based programs are student-centered and designed to further knowledge through basic and applied research, and serve the diverse needs of our local, state, national and international constituencies. Our faculty explore all frontiers of mankind—from the far reaches of space to the fascinating organisms of the sea and Petri dishes, from the gravitational binding of galaxies to chemical binding of pharmaceutical molecules. Our programs are aimed to prepare students for responsible positions at all levels of research, industry, education, medicine and government. We emphasize degree programs relevant to regional economic and market trends from space sciences to marine biology, designed to enable graduates to compete in the global economy and foster lifelong learning skills. At every level of education, graduate and undergraduate, our college’s faculty and some 700 students are working together to find answers to the most basic and complex questions facing humanity.
A lot has changed in 50 years: The College of Science has grown to include departments of biological sciences, chemistry, mathematical sciences, physics and space sciences, and science and mathematics education, all producing nationally known alumni and creating internationally regarded research breakthroughs. For example, Professor Ravi Agarwal is the third most cited mathematician in the world, based on both citations and number of publications. Today, the college is leading the university in external funding. As of June 1, 2008, the COS’s total research award is $17.3M (55 percent of the university’s total external funding). This sum spreads over 74 grants and contracts among 43 of our faculty (65 percent of COS faculty). The average funding per active research faculty for our college is about $400,000—a respectable figure for a top research university.
Some things remain the same: Student achievement is at the heart of the work in the College of Science. Today we are, as we were decades ago, committed to (1) producing engaged graduates, prepared for life, work and leadership in a constantly changing world, (2) advancing excellent educational and research programs in the natural sciences, mathematics and education and (3) transforming ideas into actions that directly benefit the personal, economic, social and cultural lives of the citizens of the world. Over decades, our college’s distinction has been based on our faculty’s excellence in teaching, service and research, through scholarly publications and external funding. We recognize that “science is not something you study, but something you do.” For our faculty, the ultimate role is “to teach science, to create science, to apply science, to make scientists.” We’re all in this business because of our students.
Founded: The first off-campus program began in 1972, in Maryland, by special request of the United States Navy.
First Dean: General Ed Gudgel
“University College has always broken ground in both its programs and in the way it delivers them. This fall, this legacy continues with a new concentration in humanitarian disaster relief logistics for our master’s degree in logistics management. This new concentration combines the best of high technology and the human touch by providing students with a real understanding of how technology can be used to ease human suffering in the worst of circumstances.” —Clifford Bragdon, Ph.D., dean, University College
A lot has changed in 36 years: The name of the college has changed several times, from Off-Campus Programs to School for Extended Graduate Studies to the current, University College. The methodology for delivering academic programs has changed too, transitioning from site-based traditional learning methods to a mixture of online and traditional programs.
Some things remain the same: University College alumni have always been remarkable for their diversity and level of professional achievement. An outstanding collection of flag-rank officers, corporate CEOs and astronauts have all earned Florida Institute of Technology degrees through University College. Last spring, alumna astronaut Sunita Williams spoke at the Melbourne campus, but she too earned a degree through University College.
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