Timeline of NCSU History
1880s
1887
March 7: Legislation is passed establishing the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
April 22: The college's Board of Trustees first meets.
1889
Alexander Q. Holladay is named first president of the college. He serves until 1899.
Holladay Hall is completed.
October 3rd: The College opens for classes.
Agricultural Experiment Station (now Agricultural Research Service) is transferred from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture to the new college.
1890s
1892
Cuban Jose Fabio Santo Trigo is the first foreign student to enroll in the college.
1893
June 20th: First graduating class of 19 students receive their degrees.
1899
George Tayloe Winston becomes the college's second president. He serves until 1908.
1900s
1901
Margaret Burke, the first female student, takes a course in physics.
1902
Mrs. Adeline Stevens, the first woman faculty member, is appointed an instructor in biology.
1903
The student yearbook, the Agromeck, is established.
Carolyn Sherman is appointed the first woman librarian.
1908
Daniel Harvey Hill, Jr., is appointed third college president. He serves until 1916.
1909
College officials sign the first memorandum of understanding for cooperative demonstration work with the United States Department of Agriculture. The memorandum provides for the establishment of the Farmers' Boys' Clubs or Corn Clubs. These clubs are the forerunners of the 4-H, the name adopted for the program in 1911.
1910s
1913
May 26th: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then assistant Secretary of the Navy, speaks at commencement exercises.
1914
The Cooperative Agricultural Extension Service (now Cooperative Extension Service) is established at the college and at other land grant colleges by the Federal Smith-Lever Act.
1916
Wallace Carl Riddick is appointed fourth president of the college. He serves until 1923.
The total number of degrees awarded by the College reaches 1,000.
1917
The name of the college is changed to the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering.
The position of dean of agriculture is created. It was first held by Charles B. Williams. The School of Agriculture would not be established until 1923, however.
1918
Football player John Ripple is the first All-American in any sport.
1920s
1920
The student newspaper, the Technician, is established.
1921
A system of student government is established.
Cornerstone laying ceremonies are held for the Memorial Tower (although construction began in 1920). The Tower honors alumni who served in World War I.
Single-year enrollment at the college reaches 1,000.
1923
The School of Engineering is established (now the College of Engineering).
The School of Agriculture is established (now the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences).
The Graduate School is established.
The School of Science and Business is established.
The Engineering Experiment Station is established.
The Division of College Extension is established.
Eugene Clyde Brooks is appointed fifth president of the college. He serves until 1934.
The College is awarded a chapter of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
1925
The School of Textiles is established (now College of Textiles).
1926
The first Ph.D. is awarded to Jesse Mowry in Rural Sociology.
1927
The School of Education is established (now the College of Education and Psychology).
Jane McKimmon, Charlotte Nelson, and Mary Yarbrough are the first women to earn degrees.
1930s
1930
Morris Johnson is the first All-American in basketball.
1931
The Consolidation Act is passed by the General Assembly with the following provisions:
- 1. North Carolina State becomes one of three campuses of the Consolidated University of North Carolina. The other campuses are Chapel Hill and the Women's College in Greensboro (which later became UNC-Greensboro).
- 2. The College's name is changed to the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering of the University of North Carolina
- 3. The School of Education becomes the Department of Education
- 4. The School of Science and Business is abolished. No new students will be admitted to this school after 1933.
Under consolidation, North Carolina State College's Board of Trustees is abolished and a new board of trustees is established at the university level to oversee all three of the campuses. This arrangement continues until the creation of the UNC System in 1972.
1934
John William Harrelson, class of 1909, is named Dean of Administration. He serves until 1953.
1937
The Basic Division is established. It is a service division made up of the non-degree-granting departments offering fundamental courses to first- and second-year students.
The shaft of Memorial Tower is completed.
1939
October 3rd: The College celebrates the 50th anniversary of its opening.
1940s
1940
Gertrude Cox is the first woman full professor and first woman department head (Experimental Statistics).
1941
One of the most significant contributions to the war effort is the Diesel Program developed by the Mechanical Engineering Department to train naval officers.
1942
The North Carolina State College foundation is the first foundation established to attract private support for the College.
1945
The Dean of Administration's title is changed to Chancellor.
1946
The Minerals Research Laboratory (School of Engineering) is established at Asheville.
The School of Architecture and Landscape Design is established (name changed to School of Design in 1948).
1947
August 28th: General Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks at the 40th Annual Farm and Home Week in Riddick Stadium.
Under Everett Case, the basketball team places third in its first national tournament, the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
1948
The School of Education is re-established (now the College of Education and Psychology).
1949
The first basketball game is played in Reynolds Coliseum.
For the first time, there are 1,000 or more graduates in one school year.
The total number of degrees awarded by the College reaches 10,000.
November 11th: Memorial Tower dedication ceremonies are held for the completed Shrine Room and Memorial Plaque.
Agricultural researchers develop the first tobacco resistant to both Black Shank and Granville Wilt.
1950s
1950
The School of Forestry is established (now College of Natural Resources).
1952
The non-degree-granting School of General Studies is established (now the degree-granting College of Humanities and Social Sciences). It replaces the Basic Division.
1953
The first African-American graduate students are Robert L. Clemons and Hardy Liston.
The first non-government nuclear reactor in the world begins operation at NC State.
Carey Hoyt Bostian is named Chancellor. He serves until 1959.
1954
The Peru Project is established, a cooperative effort between NCSU, the Foreign Operations Administration (U.S. Agency for International Development), and the government of Peru to develop programs in agricultural and textile research,\ extension, and education.
Swimmers win Men's Outdoor National AAU Championship.
The basketball team wins the first ACC championship.
1954, 1956
Dick Fadgen wins seven NCAA and AAU individual championship swimming events.
1955
Edward Shinn develops the synthetic aorta.
1956
Swimmers (as an athletic club) win the Men's Indoor National AAU Championship.
Patricia Anne Sarvella is the first woman to receive a Ph.D. degree (Genetics).
The first African-American undergraduates, Edward Carson and Manuel Crockett, enroll in summer school. In the fall of that year, Irwin Holmes and Walter Holmes enrolled.
Irwin Holmes joined the tennis team, making it the first athletics team integrated at NCSU.
Enrollment reaches 5,000.
1958
A tobacco bulk curing unit is developed by the Department of Agricultural Engineering.
The Research Triangle Institute at Research Triangle Park is established by NC State, Duke University, and UNC-Chapel Hill.
The basketball team wins the Dixie Classic Tournament against several powerhouse teams, including four in the AP top ten, as well as the NCAA winner.
1959
John Tyler Caldwell is named Chancellor. He serves until 1975.
1960s
1960
September 17th: Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy makes a campaign speech at Reynolds Coliseum.
The School of Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics is established (now the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences).
The Agricultural Policy Institute is established. It is one of only two such organizations in the United States.
1962
Vivian Henderson, a visiting professor of Agricultural Economics, is the first African-American faculty member.
1963
The B.A. degree is authorized for the renamed School of Liberal Arts (formerly the non-degree granting School of General Studies and now the College of Humanities and Social Sciences).
Name changes to North Carolina State of the University of North Carolina at Raleigh.
1964
The total number of degrees awarded by the College reaches 25,000.
October 6th: President Lyndon B. Johnson makes a campaign speech in Reynolds Coliseum.
1965
Name changes to North Carolina State University at Raleigh.
A lint-free washcloth is developed by John T. Bogdan. It is first used in the Gemini and Apollo space flights.
The Water Resources Research Institute, a joint Federal-State program for the UNC System, is established at NC State.
1966
The Center for Occupational Education is established. It is one of just two such centers nationwide.
The Center for Urban Affairs and Community Services is established.
The Triangle Universities Computation Center is established by NC State, Duke University, and UNC-Chapel Hill in Research Triangle Park. It is one of the world's largest university computing centers.
Single-year enrollment reaches 20,000.
1967
Stanley G. Stephens is the first faculty member elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
1969
Twenty-six graduates, all employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), play a key role in the voyage of the Apollo 11 space mission, which is successful in placing the first men on the moon.
Center for Acoustical Studies is established.
1970s
1970
Walton C. Gregory develops NC4X, the "Atomic Peanut."
Cathy Sterling is elected the first woman Student Body President.
1971
The International Potato Center is established in Peru by the University and the Peruvian government in an effort to increase the world's supply of white potatoes.
1972
Basketball player David Thompson is the first African-American to be named an All-American in any sport.
The UNC System is created, with NCSU as one of the constituent campuses. A Board of Governors is established at the system level, but a new Board of Trustees is instituted at NCSU to oversee the university.
1974
The men's basketball team wins its first NCAA championship.
The first women's athletic team (basketball) begins to play.
1975
The total number of degrees awarded by the University reaches 50,000.
Jackson Ashcroft Rigney is named Interim Chancellor.
1976
"Sweet acidophilus" milk, developed by Marvin Speck, is first marketed. Research began in the late 1960s.
Basketball player Susan Yow is the first woman All-American in any sport.
Joab Langston Thomas is named Chancellor. He serves until 1981.
1978
Ted Brown is the first African-American to be named an All-American in football.
The Humanities Extension Program is established.
The "Monolithic Cascade" solar cell is built by researchers here and at the Research Triangle Institute.
1979, 1980
The Women's Cross Country Team wins back-to-back national championships.
1980s
1980
The Center for Economic and Business Studies is established.
Agricultural engineers perfect the mechanical cucumber harvester.
The North Carolina Japan Center is established.
1981
D.H. Hill Library holdings reach one million volumes.
The Microelectronics Center for North Carolina is established at NC State.
The School of Veterinary Medicine admits its first class (now the College of Veterinary Medicine).
Nash Nicks Winstead is named Interim Chancellor. He serves until 1982.
1982
The Center for Communications and Signal Processing is established.
The Center for Precision Engineering is established.
Bruce Robert Poulton is named Chancellor. He serves until 1989.
1983
The men's basketball team wins the NCAA Championship.
The Biotechnology Program is established.
The total number of degrees awarded by the University reaches 75,000.
The integrated manufacturing Systems Engineering Institute is established.
1984
The Center for Materials Research is established.
The State of North Carolina give the University a 780-acre tract of land from the Dorothea Dix Hospital property. This becomes Centennial Campus.
1985
The men's 4x100 Meter Relay Team wins the NCAA championship.
September 5th: President Ronald Reagan visits the University.
1986
The Center for Research in Scientific Computation is established.
1987
The University celebrates the 100th Anniversary of its founding.
The Center for Aseptic Processing and Packaging Studies is established.
Eight of the university's schools became colleges.
1988
The Mars Mission Research Center is established. This is a cooperative effort between the University and NC A&T State University.
The NCSU College Bowl Team competes in the "varsity sport of the mind" and wins the National Championship.
Coach Kay Yow's U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team wins the Olympic Gold Medal in Seoul, Korea.
1989
Larry K. Monteith is named Chancellor. He serves until 1998.
Christine Grant (Chemical Engineering) is the first African-American female faculty member appointed in the College of Engineering.
1990s
1990
February 2nd: President George Bush visits the University.
1992
The Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines is established.
The College of Management is established.
ABB becomes the University's first industrial partner on Centennial Campus.
1994
The University is awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
1996
Park Scholars Program founded.
Wentai Liu designs the prototype for the artificial retina.
1998
Marye Anne Fox is named Chancellor, the first woman to hold the office. She serves until 2004.
1999
NCSU becomes one of the first land-grant universities to offer master's and doctoral degrees in genomic science.
2000s
2002
Shelton Initiative for Leadership Development is launched.
NCSU Libraries is ranked 32nd of 112 ARL Libraries.
A study estimates that NCSU pumps $2.3 billion into the North Carolina economy.
2003
The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation is launched.
Jim Riviere becomes the first faculty member elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
2004
Robert A. Barnhardt is named Interim Chancellor.
2005
James L. Oblinger is named Chancellor.
Other Timelines
Timeline of African Americans at NCSU
Timeline of Athletics at NCSU
Timeline of NCSU Libraries
